Wrong place wrong time
by lizzieten
Summary: what if the curtis parents had been murdered and Ponyboy had witnessed it REWRITING and looking for a Beta reader! if interested let me know
1. Chapter 1

Wrong place wrong time

Chapter one: Danger

Twelve year old Ponyboy Curtis woke up when he heard the sound of his parents talking or should he say arguing with someone. Throwing his legs over the side of the bed Ponyboy pulled himself to a sitting position and slowly climbed out of bed.

Walking towards his door Ponyboy could hear the fighting intensify.

"The boys are not here, I don't know where they are it's a Friday night." Ponyboy's mom Carol, shouted causing Ponyboy to swallow hard. They were arguing about his brothers. He that when it came to Soda and Darry his parents would not say a word.

Ponyboy opened his door and walked down the hall silently, he walked to the end of the hall but remained in the shadows so whoever the man was wouldn't be able to see him.

As Ponyboy watched the man picked his mom up and threw her into the wall. He watched in terror as his dad tried to defend her. His dad leaped for the man aiming to pull him away from Carol but instead the man turned to face him and pulled a gun and shot Darrel sr in the middle of his chest. Ponyboy's mother screamed and the gun was turned on her.

"Tell me where they are now?" the man demanded. Carol just shook her head no as the gun was placed against her head.

"I'll never tell you where my boys are" she said firmly. Ponyboy watched in growing terror as the masked man pulled the trigger.

"So be it" the man said as he turned and walked out of the house. Ponyboy jumped to his feet and ran to his dad's side. Darrel senior was just barely breathing as he gazed at his youngest son.

"How's your mother?" Darrel asked POnyboy who turned to look at what was left of his mother's face. "she's dead" Ponyboy whispered softly barely able to say the words. Ponyboy could see the tears in his fathers eyes.

"I love you son, tell your brother's that I love them too" Darrel closed his eyes and his breathing slowly came to a stop. Tears filled Ponyboy's eyes as he watched his father die, weeping Ponyboy lay his head on his fathers shoulder and cried himself to sleep.vv


	2. authors note

Sorry I removed the last chapters because to put it frankly they sucked but I will work on these some more and get them posted as soon as I can


	3. chapter 2

Chapter two

When Ponyboy opened his eyes he found himself on his bed, covered with a thin sheet. Ponyboy turned his head to the side and saw Soda sitting there watching him. Ponyboy saw the tears soda was trying to hide and knew that what he had witnessed was not a nightmare, that it had really happened. Tears began to fill Ponyboy's eyes and he turned away from Soda, he couldn't bear to see the pain in soda's eyes.

Soda looked up when he felt Ponyboy looking at him, his green eyes light with unshed tears. Then Ponyboy turned away from him, and turned towards the wall.

"I know you're hurting pony" Soda said gently "I am too; I just wish I could have been here when it happened so that you wouldn't be going through this alone." Soda continued to try and get Ponyboy to talk but Ponyboy kept his head turned away from him. Ponyboy heard Soda sigh then lapse into silence once more.

"Thank you" Ponyboy thought I don't want to talk right now just leave me alone, though Ponyboy was awake all he could see was the gun against his mothers head, and his father lying bleeding on the floor.

Ten minutes later Ponyboy heard the bedroom door open and his oldest brother walked in.

"The police are gone, they said this was probably just a robbery gone wrong" Darry said quietly, looking at his younger brothers, one lying down with his back to the other. "Hey, Ponyboy do you want something to eat?" Darry asked quietly.

Ponyboy didn't even bother to respond, in all honesty he didn't feel like he could eat again after what he had seen, so instead he just remained silent in his own world of hurt. In fact eating would probably just make him sick right now, considering that there was blood and brains everywhere in the living room.

"He just won't talk, Darry" Soda said quietly "I've tried and tried to get him to talk but he just turns his head and ignores me."

"Give him some time" Darry said "He won't get used to his parents being dead in twenty minutes."

"You want me to leave him alone?" Soda asked increduouly "he just witnessed our parents deaths and you want me to leave him alone."

"Yes, just give him some time he'll get over it" Darry said before turning and walking out the bedroom door. Soda glanced at the still body of his youngest brother, not wanting to leave him alone but at the same time wanting to give him his space.

"when you want to talk I'm here" Soda said walking out of the room. Closing the door he felt like he was abandoning his little brother to his pain, and he didn't like it.

Soda walked out onto the porch and sat down. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. Tears began to fill his eyes as he thought about his parents, he wished he could have been here when his parents had been killed. He wished most of all that Ponyboy didn't have to witness what he had.

Ten minutes later Darry stepped out onto the porch. Sitting down beside Soda, he placed and arm around his shoulder.

"Everything's going to be okay" he said gently "with a little time things will go back to normal."

"How can you even say normal, you forget that Ponyboy watched our parents get killed. I don't believe he'll just go back to being 'normal'" soda muttered.

"you're right, he probably won't for a long time to come but I believe one day he will be." Darry said, sighing as he stood up. "I would come in soon it's getting cold."

"I will, I just don't want to have to look at that mess in there" Soda said, standing up and stretching.

"Darry, I'm going for a quick stroll." Soda hollered into the house before jumping off his porch. Landing on his feet Soda walked down his drive and onto the sidewalk. As he walked he was so lost in thought that he didn't see or hear the car trailing him at a distance.


	4. more trouble

Thanks for all the reviews I hope you like the future chapters. sorry I also had to replace Chapter three Hope this ones better.

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Chapter three: More trouble?

Soda, oblivious to the fact that he was being followed, walked to the park and sat down on the bench. Sitting there he began to think about the horror that had befallen his parents and the horror that his younger brother had witnessed.

"Ponyboy, didn't deserve to see all that" Soda whimpered to himself "he's just a baby."

Tears began streaming down his face as Soda thought about the silent boy lying on his bed at the house. Soda knew that Ponyboy had been traumatized and knew that Ponyboy wouldn't be normal again for a very long time, if he was ever normal again.

"I wish I could have stopped you from witnessing all of that" Soda muttered sullenly.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Soda looked up at the sky and stared at the stars for a few moments. Knowing he couldn't have done to stop Ponyboy from seeing all the horror that had occurred in their living room, only a few short hours ago. Sitting up when he heard footsteps behind him, Soda whirled around and came face to face with a heavily muscled soc.

"What do we have here?" The soc grinned at Soda "a greaser by his lonesome." Soda just glared at the soc, before jumping to his feet and punching him in the mouth.

"I came to talk" the soc said laughing at the angry expression on Soda's face.

"I don't want to talk to you" Soda replied.

"You will if it involves your little brother" The soc sneered when he said little brother.

Soda, having turning his back to walk home, spun around.

"What do you want?" Soda asked, irate, for he was not in the mood to deal with this guy.

"Just for you to deliver a message to your little brother" The soc replied with a grin.

Soda stiffened at the mention of Ponyboy and he wondered briefly why this huge guy had such a problem with a little kid.

Soda glared at the soc, even when the soc pulled out a switchblade.

"You won't come near my little brother" Soda declared "my oldest brother, myself, and the gang will stop you."

The soc finally took his fist and slammed it into Soda's stomach.

"Are you going to listen to me so your little brother won't get hurt?" The soc asked, Soda glared at him.

"I won't let you get near him, so why should I have to listen?" Soda snapped, angry that both him and his youngest brother were being threatened by this no count person.

The soc leaped forward once more and punched Soda in his face, with blood running down his mouth from his busted nose. Soda glared, not wanting to go home and have Darry see him this way.

"Mind you I am not the person that wants to hurt your brother or to even give him this message for that matter, you can say it's a friend of a friend that wants it delivered" The soc said before placing the knife against Soda's throat "the way I see it you have no choice in telling him, not if you want him to remain unharmed anyways." The soc kicked the fallen Soda in his ribs before continuing his little speech.

"Tell your brother, if he wants to live to not go walking by himself." The soc smiled before turning and walking away. "have fun telling that little trouble maker of a brother of yours I'm sure He'll enjoy his little message."

Soda jumped to his feet and started to run after the soc, but after a few minutes, he realized the soc was long gone. Soda found a coke can in the street and gave it a swift hard kick. angrily he stormed back towards his house, not really caring for his own safety. when he reached the house, he slammed the door open and stood glaring in the doorway.


	5. Chapter 5

Once again thank you for all your reviews. I will do my best to update again as soon as possible.

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Chapter four: explanations

Darry on his hands and knees scrubbing at the blood. He looked up as soon as the door opened.

"What happened to you?" Darry asked worriedly, upon seeing the drying blood on Soda's neck.

"Had a confrontation with a soc" Soda snapped angrily as he stormed past Darry and into the bathroom. "he gave me a message to give to Ponyboy" Soda quickly went about cleaning himself; grabbing a rag from the shelf and wetting it down, then scrubbing the blood off of his neck. When he looked up Darry was standing in the doorway.

"Are you going to tell me what was said or am I going to have to hunt down a soc?" Darry asked his voice hard.

Soda took in the expression on Darry's face and knew he had better tell him everything that had been said.

"He said that if Ponyboy wanted to live he better not go walking alone" Soda replied "and speaking of Ponyboy; is he still in the bedroom?" Darry nodded and Soda could see the anger in his eyes.

"How could they threaten him, especially at a time like this" Darry growled, before turning and storming back into the living room.

Soda finished in the bathroom quickly then went into Ponyboy's bedroom. To find Ponyboy curled up with his knees against his chest. Tears were sliding down his face as he fought to keep his composure.

Soda sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on Ponyboy's shoulder. Ponyboy jumped at the unexpected contact.

"It's okay to cry" Soda said gently "no one will say anything to you for crying, besides, me and Darry are going to take care of you." Ponyboy turned to look at him, tears sliding down his face. But still he remained silent. Soda reached out and gently wiped the tears away, before pulling him into a hug.

"I promise someday everything is going to be okay again" Soda said; hearing the front door open then slam shut a few seconds later. Ponyboy turned his back towards Soda and continued to rock himself back and forth. Soda sighed and got up and walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Steve and the rest of the gang were in the living room.


	6. Friends

Sorry it's taken me so long to update I've had about a million things due this past week for school. I will try to update more often.

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Chapter six: Friends

Steve waited patiently for Soda to come out of Ponyboy's bedroom; he knew Soda would need someone to talk too.

"Hey, Darry, how's Ponyboy doing?" Dallas asked, trying to sound like he really didn't care, everyone knew that he did.

"How do you think he's doing, he witnessed his parents deaths" Steve muttered and Dallas shot him a dirty look.

"Not so well" Darry replied sighing "he won't talk to anyone about anything."

"That's not so unusual" Steve said "look at what he witnessed, the kid is scarred and I wouldn't talk either."

Darry sighed once more wishing that he had been home, maybe then Ponyboy would still be speaking to everyone.

"I bet the kids scared out of his mind" Johnny said softly, his voice breaking into Darry's thoughts.

"I wouldn't doubt it" Steve said looking up when he heard the sound of a door opening. Soda walked out looking sadder than anyone had ever seen him look.

"He still won't talk" Soda said, tears making his eyes sting.

"All he needs is time" Darry said gently "He just witnessed something terrible." Soda sat down on the couch and placed his head into his hands, and he began to cry.

Steve got up off the floor and sat down beside Soda on the couch, he gently placed his arm around Soda's shoulder.

"At least he's still alive" Steve said "the killer could have killed him too"

"Somebody wants him dead" Darry muttered under his breath. The gang turned to stare at him.

"What did you just say?" Dallas asked.

Darry repeated what he had said then filled them in on Soda's soc run-in.

"Do you think the killer had the soc to tell Soda that?" Steve asked from between clenched teeth. Darry shrugged.

"I don't know what to think. All I know is Ponyboy's not allowed out of my sight."

"Don't worry Darry," Dallas said "one of us will always be with him."

"Ponyboy's not going to like that" Soda spoke breaking his silence for the sake of his little brother "he doesn't deserve for this to happen to him."

" Ponyboy will have to live with us being around him twenty-four seven, because times sure are not safe for him." Darry said.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've had several essays due at school. I will try my best to update more often.

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Chapter seven: talking.

Ponyboy lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling, he had heard his brothers conversation about staying with him 24/7. He didn't like the idea, but he wasn't going to complain about it; he knew his brothers only wanted to make sure he was safe. The thing was Ponyboy wasn't sure that he felt safe, not with what he had witnessed anyways. He had this nagging fear in the back of his mind about the man that had shot and killed his parents. Ponyboy had the feeling that he hadn't seen the last of him.

Sighing Ponyboy decided he would go join his friends and family in the TV room; he was tired of being alone with his thoughts; especially the direction they had taken recently. They depressed him. Getting up Ponyboy crossed his room and walked down the hall to where his brothers and the gang sat discussing the situation.

"If it had been my brother that had witnessed my parents death" Two-bit was saying "I would take him as far away from this place as possible."

"First of all" Steve said "you don't even have a brother, Two-bit"

"Well, my little sister then" Two-bit muttered "you know what I mean."

"The problem with that" Darry said "is we don't have money to take him away, otherwise, we would."

"They're ways to get around the money issue" Two-bit said.

"Such as?" Soda asked looking up from the floor to stare Two-bit directly in the eyes.

"You could steal it?"

The look that crossed Darry's and Soda's face told Two-bit; he had better shut up or they would kill him.

"Yeah, that will only get him taken away from us. Besides stealing things is your job not ours" Soda muttered under his breath. Just then Ponyboy walked into the room and all things being discussed was quickly hushed.

"Hey, kiddo" Soda said reaching out and grabbing Ponyboy by his arm and gently tugging him into his lap. "are you okay?"

"That's a stupid question" Steve muttered under his breath. Darry shot him a dirty look and Steve shut up. He wasn't quite over the time when Darry had broken his jaw. Steve didn't want another busted jaw.

Ponyboy shook his head no, he wasn't okay.

"You know you can talk to us about what happened, right?" Soda said gently, not wanting to scare his little brother. Ponyboy just shook his head no again.

"The kid doesn't want to talk? Dallas said "I wouldn't make him if I were you."

Darry sighed as he watched Soda try and coax Ponyboy into talking. Ponyboy wasn't having it. Darry saw the same stubborn streak in Ponyboy that Darry himself had. It might be a while yet before he talks again Sodapop Darry thought don't make him do anything he doesn't want to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: trouble

Ponyboy had spent the rest of the night wrapped in the arms of soda, he never spoke a word to anyone even if he was asked a question. After a lttle while of Ponyboy ignoring everyone's questions. Steve began to get irrated, and snapped at Ponyboy.

"Get over it already" steve snapped. "Soda and Darry are learning to live with what happened you should to." Soda glared at steve and stood up, gently lowering Ponyboy onto the couch. Turning to face steve soda continued to glare. Finally he spoke after a few moments of silence.

"Get out" Soda ordered "you should have kept your big mouth shut. Ponyboy witnessed our parents getting killed. So what, that he doesn't want to talk about it. He doesn't have to."

"If he ever wants to get over it. He has to talk about. He keeps it inside all of the time he's going to kill himself" Steve said glaring right back at Soda.

"Ponyboy would not kill himself. He's a little kid" Soda shouted before drawing his fist back and punching Steve in the mouth. Blood began to flow from Steve's lip, where Soda had knocked the crap out of him.

"You're going to be sorry you didn't make him talk about" was all Steve said as he turned and walked out of the house and down the drive. Soda glared at Steve's retreating back.

"He's gone Soda" Darry said gently "and I don't think he's going to be back for a while." Soda glared at Darry for a minute as if he didn't realize that Steve was no longer in the house.

A little while later Soda and Darry had gone to bed, but Ponyboy remained up, sitting in a chair in the kitchen. Staring at the wall, thinking. Something that had been said right before the guy had killed his parents. Something about a joke that Darry and Soda had played on someone. And that joke had went wrong. This someone's brother it seemed had gotten seriously hurt. And apparently this man blamed Soda and Darry for it. Ponyboy was still sitting in the kitchen trying to figure out what had gone wrong to make the man hate his family this much. When he heard glass shatter in the living room.

Without thinking about it Ponyboy stood and went into the living room to find the same guy that had shot his parents, standing there. When he saw Ponyboy he grinned.

"Just the person I wanted to see" He said the grin not once leaving his face. Ponyboy didn't say anything just stared. Fear beginning to show in his eyes.

"Yes, I am the one the killed your parents, and believe it or not they deserved it for what happened to my brother. You're brothers should really be the ones dead. But since they wearn't here that night your parents died. Your parents would do." The man paused for a moment taking in the fear he saw in Ponyboy's face. "and then I hear I left a witness, someone who could rat me out to the police, even maybe have me put to death, and I think I can't let that happen, so hear I am."

Ponyboy only turned and bolted out of the room, and the guy let him go, knowing he had made the boy even more afraid then he already was.

"I'll let you go for now. But when it comes to pay back you better believe you won't last very long with me. You won't be able to run and hide."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Hurt

When Soda awoke a few hours later, his throat was dry and begging to be relieved from the dryness. He noticed that Ponyboy still wasn't in bed. Sitting up Soda noticed the young boy sitting in the corner his knees drawn up to his chest with his back against the wall. Silent sobs shook the young boys body. Confused as to what was going on, Soda slowly crawled out of bed, his thirst forgotten. Sodapop went to his baby brothers side. Kneeling beside him, Soda placed his arm around Ponyboy's shoulder gently.

"What's wrong little brother?" Soda asked, though, he did not expect an answer. He just hoped he could provide some semblance of comfort for the crying boy. As expected Ponyboy only shook his head no and shrugged Soda's arm off.

"I want to help you Ponyboy. Why won't you let me help you?" Soda asked his heart breaking because his little brother didn't want him to comfort him. "I'm never going to leave you alone, not while you're dealing with this pain."

Ponyboy looked into soda's eyes and saw perfect sincerity, and that's what scared him. Jumping to his feet, Ponyboy ran out of the room and into the bathroom, where he slammed the door and locked it behind him. Confused Soda stared after his little brother, he didn't expect Ponyboy to react like that. Climbing to his feet soda walked to the bathroom and pounded on the door.

"If you don't let me in and tell me what's going on right now, I'm going to get Darry" Soda said knowing very well that threatening to get Darry wasn't going to do anything. A few minutes later Soda heard no movement to open the door, he only heard low whimpers coming from Ponyboy.

"Come on Pony" Soda said sighing quietly "You don't have to deal with this alone you know, all of us is willing to help you if you let us. This burden is too heavy for you to bear so why are you?" the only sound that came from the bathroom was another whimper.

Soda turned and walked away and headed straight for Darry's room, knowing full well, Darry wouldn't be in a very good mood once Soda had awakened him. Upon reaching Darry's bedroom, Soda took a deep breath before he quietly opened the door. Darry was sound asleep and Soda didn't like the thought that he was going to have to wake him up, but then he didn't know what to do about Ponyboy either. Standing beside the bed, Soda gently shook Darry and when Darry didn't wake up Soda shook him a little bit harder.

"what" Darry groaned as he opened his eyes and saw Soda standing there "something going on?" he mumbled.

"Ponyboy locked himself in the bathroom and won't come out" Soda said "I've tried everything I could, but he won't come out." Darry sighed and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"why did he lock himself in the bathroom in the first place?" he asked the sullen teenager standing beside him.

"He was upset, I don't know why, but I did try to find out but I put my arm around his shoulder and he shook me off and into the bathroom he went" Soda said quietly.

"That kid overreacts to everything" Darry muttered standing up and walking out of the bedroom and to the bathroom. Knocking on the door gently, Darry sighed.

"Ponyboy, open up, you know you can't stay in there forever you know." Darry said gently. Still no movement to open the door. "come on Pony, me and Soda want to help you."

A few minutes later a red-eyed Ponyboy opened the door, he stared at Darry for a minute before throwing himself into Darry's arms. Darry looked at Soda confused, usually Soda was the one Ponyboy threw himself at, for matters of comfort. Soda shrugged.

Darry wrapped his arms tightly around Ponyboy, as he felt the young boy began to sob again.

"You're alright kiddo, you're gonna be just fine me and Soda will take care of you" but Darry wasn't so sure that Ponyboy would be fine at all. Not after witnessing his parents murders.


	10. not actually an update sorry

I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but I have been on a month long break from college and will be soon getting back to updating. anyone have any ideas about where it should go from here?


	11. that's what brother's are for

Chapter Ten: That's what brothers are for

Ponyboy let his brother hold him, fearing that this would be the last time that he saw his brothers. Though the young boy didn't speak, Darry could feel the fear running through his youngest brother's body.

"You're going to be okay" Darry whispered into his hair, "Me and Soda won't let anyone harm you. You are perfectly safe with us."

Ponyboy wanted despretely to believe his brother, but knowing that the killer could get into the house without their knowing, Ponyboy doubted that he was as safe as his brother claimed he was. Finally Ponyboy stopped crying and looked up at his brother, who frowned down at him.

"Are you going to tell me what's got you so upset?" Darry asked gently, somehow knowing that Ponyboy had any intention of ever telling them what was really going on with him.

Ponyboy shook his head no, he didn't want his brothers to be hurt he loved them too much, and as Ponyboy stood there, he realized there was only one way to keep his brothers from harm, and that was to remove himself from the situation. Ponyboy pulled out of Darry's arms and backed against the wall, staring at the floor. He would find a way to keep his brothers safe from the same fate that happened to their parents.

Soda frowned at Darry as Ponyboy pulled away from Darry, something was going on in his little brothers head. Soda could tell he was thinking hard about something. About what he didn't know. He didn't want to wait to find out, and so he asked Ponyboy what was on his mind.

"Nothing" Ponyboy muttered as he turned and walked back to his bedroom, a steady breeze was blowing in from the broken window. As he entered his room, he shut the door and locked it behind him. He would leave. He wasn't going to stay around so that his brothers could be hurt by him. He wouldn't have their blood on his hands like he had his parents blood on his hands.

Ponyboy walked over to his closest and started pulling clothes out and tossing them out onto the bed. Finishing quickly with the closet because he really didn't have a whole in there, Ponyboy began taking the clothes and stuffing them into his track bag.

When he had finished he sat down on his bed and stared at the floor, he didn't know where he would go, he just knew he had to leave to keep his brothers safe. Sighing Ponyboy was still staring at the ground when he heard knocking on his door. Getting up Ponyboy walked slowly to the door, kicking his bag under his bed so that neither of his brothers would see it.

Opening the door slowly, Ponyboy found himself face to face with Soda, Ponyboy frowned at him, not really wanting to be bothered. Ponyboy stood away from the door and Soda walked in. going to the bed Soda sat down on it. Ponyboy turned to face him but refused to look Soda in the eyes.

"Ponyboy, what's going on with you? And why is it so cold in here?" Soda asked frowning, then he saw the broken window. "what happened to your window?"

Ponyboy looked quickly about his room, he didn't want Soda to know what had really happened. Finally his eyes found his baseball lying on the table beside his bed. Ponyboy went over and grabbed the ball then dropped it into Soda's lap.

"You're baseball broke the window?" Soda asked, frowning, he knew that Ponyboy was lying, could see it in his eyes. Whatever it was Ponyboy obviously didn't want to talk about it. So, Soda decided he wasn't going to bug him, standing up Soda reached out and placed his fingers under Ponyboy's chin and forced him to look into Soda's eyes.

"Whenever you want to talk you know where to find me" Soda said before walking out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him. Ponyboy was glad that Soda had left, though he knew he would miss his brothers a lot, he knew he had to leave. Bending down Ponyboy reached down and grabbed his bag out from under the bed and as quietly as he could, he slipping out the broken window and into the dark cold air.

He had barely made it fifty feet away from his house, when he felt a hand slap across his mouth and a voice hiss.

"You better not make a sound."


	12. Missing

Chapter 11: Missing

"You better not say a word" was the last thing Ponyboy heard as something hard was slammed against the back of his head and he lost consciousness. His kidnappers quickly dumped Ponyboy into their van before getting in and speeding away.

When Ponyboy came to, he realized wherever he was; it was dark and cold, and his wrists were tied behind. What he was tied to; ponyboy could only guess. As he looked around fear began to creep up. He realized then that he didn't want to leave home, he wanted his brothers but Ponyboy knew that with what he had witnessed he would be very lucky to get out of this situation.

"I'm sorry, Soda, Darry" Ponyboy thought "I guess I am pretty stupid; look at the mess I've gotten myself into." Looking around Ponyboy noticed there was not a single window in whatever place he was being kept.

Ponyboy wondered briefly if Soda and Darry knew he was gone yet; Ponyboy had the feeling that Soda knew he had been trying to run away. At the moment Ponyboy wished that Sodapop had told Darry and then he would be taking whatever punishment Darry could come up with. Just the thought of his brothers brought tears to his eyes. He knew his brothers would never give up searching for him, and for that he was glad, because right now there was nothing that Ponyboy wanted more than to be in his brothers' arms once more. Closing his eyes, Ponyboy let his mind drift to his brothers. He could see Sodapop's smile easily lighting up a room whenever he walks into it. He sees all the girls rushing and fighting for his older brother's attention. Then he sees Darry with his hands stuck in his pockets staring out the window. He never did like crowds of people. And the noisy girls that surrounded Soda was enough to drive anyone crazy, still he wore a relaxed grin on his face, as whatever thoughts happened to run through his head about the whole scene.

Just then a noise broke through Ponyboy's thoughts and he was brought back to the present with a sharp slap across his face. With his face still stinging Ponyboy stared up at his captors and watched them unsure of what their next move would be. He wondered briefly if they were going to kill him because he witnessed them killing his parents.

"I'm not going to kill you" the man said as if reading Ponyboy's thoughts "I'm just going to make you wish you were dead. To put it this way your brothers won't even know you when, I'm done with you" Ponyboy just watched in terror as the man drew a belt from behind his back. The man then after placing a gag in Ponyboy's mouth, proceeded to beat Ponyboy so hard and so bad that after thirty minutes he lost consciousness. Still the man beat Ponyboy until the young boy was barely breathing then the man threw the belt on the ground beside the chair that Ponyboy was tied to and left him there.


	13. Where is Ponyboy?

Chapter 12: Where is Ponyboy?

Soda was sitting on the couch in the living room, lost in thought and completely oblivious to his best friend Steve yapping at him. Only when Steve finally got tired of trying to get through to Soda and left the house, slamming the door as he went, did Soda even look up. He was afraid for his younger brother, scared that if they couldn't get him out of his funk. Soda feared that Ponyboy would take his own life, and that was something that Soda would never accept.

"Where did Steve go?" Soda asked looking up at Darry.

"He left when he couldn't break through that fog in your brain" Darry said, smirking at him.

"I can't help it my thoughts are otherwise preoccupied with more important things than girls" Soda said, frowning at his older brother.

"He's seen the light" Darry said looking up at the ceiling in a gesture of thanking God.

"It's Ponyboy that I'm worried about" Soda said "we have to get him out his silence and get him to open up, if we don't I'm afraid, he's going to kill himself" Darry turned around and stared at him like he was crazy.

"I'm sure Ponyboy wouldn't do something like that, he knows how important he is to us" Darry said. Soda frowned and got up from the couch, walking past Darry, he scowled at him.

"I'm not going to let something happen to him, if it's the last thing I do" Soda said firmly as he walked towards his and Ponyboy's bedroom. Slowly opening the door so he didn't startle his little brother Soda entered the room only to find that his little brother wasn't there.

"Darry" Soda yelled panic filling his voice as his impatience at his older brother grew "Darry"

"What do you want impatient?" Darry asked stepping into the doorway.

"Ponyboy is not here, like he's supposed to be" Soda said as he turned to face Darry.

Darry strode quickly through room and to the broken window.

"He went through the window" Darry muttered seeing small specks of blood on the windowsill.

"Duh" Soda muttered "if he had used the door we would have seen him and could have stopped him."

"Where would he have gone? "Darry muttered to himself ignoring Soda, as he fluttered about the room, talking to himself.

"We have to call the guys to see if they'll help us try to find him." Darry said striding past Soda and out of the room.

"Where on earth did Ponyboy go?" Soda muttered to himself.


	14. reasons

Chapter 14: The Truth

Several hours later when Ponyboy had regained consciousness, he realized that if he didn't get out of here soon, he would die. His thoughts drifted to his brothers they would probably be getting worried by now; Ponyboy had no idea how long he had been gone, but it felt like forever.

"Why didn't I just stay home?" Ponyboy wondered to himself "I wouldn't be in this mess if I had used my head." Hearing a noise behind him, Ponyboy tried to turn around but the wire that was keeping his hands tied, tore into the soft flesh of his wrist and he couldn't turn much. He decided not to worry about what was behind him for now. He needed to concentrate on finding a way out of here. Ponyboy could feel the blood running down his wrists and he wanted to cry. His body hurt and ached all over. He had never been beaten like that. Heck, he had never been smacked in his life.

"I want my brothers" Ponyboy muttered as a vision of Soda's goofy grin filled his head. Ponyboy didn't want to be the one that wiped it off. He knew that his death would do just that. Briefly Ponyboy wondered what Darry was doing at this exact moment. Probably reading the paper a little voice in his head said He's too busy too look for his pain in the butt little brother.

"Darry loves me same as Soda" Ponyboy muttered to himself but he still had a hard time believing that Darry would be searching for his baby brother. Sighing Ponyboy stared at his feet; he longed just to go home and lie in his bed and be free from his pain. Free from wondering if he was going to die or not or if he would even see his brothers again, this thought made Ponyboy sad, he missed his brothers something awful.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Ponyboy raised his head and though he knew pain was coming once again he decided not to let this guy know just how much he was hurting him.

"What do you want with me?" Ponyboy asked hoping that his fear didn't come through in his voice.

"To make you suffer" the man replied coldly, cruelty ringing in every word that he had spoken. Ponyboy bit his lip when he felt it begin to tremble.

"My brothers will have your head" Ponyboy spoke his voice firm and steady, even though he was practically shaking in his skin.

"You're faith in your brothers is inspiring" the man said "but is rather falsely placed" Ponyboy glared at the wall; knowing this man was wrong and that his brothers would be looking for him.

"What did my brothers ever do to you to make you hate them so much?" Ponyboy asked truly curious to know what made this guy hate his brothers so much.

"I had a little brother once, he was about your age when he died" the man said glaring at the little boy tied to the chair. "His name was Tommy and believe it or not me and you're oldest brother Darrel used to be good friends. Darrel was helping me watch Tommy while our parents were out of town." The man said glaring even harder at Ponyboy who winced under the man's scrutiny. "Darrel was cooking dinner; he's always been a good cook, anyways, I was outside working on my car when Sodapop called, something had happened, to you I believe, and Darrel was needed at home, so Darrel left and he had forgotten that he had left the stove on" the man continued "needless to say the house caught fire, Tommy got out just fine but then he went back in to get something from his room and one of the walls collapsed on Tommy and Tommy died in that fire" the man finished.

"So, you blame my brothers for your brothers stupid decision to go back into a burning house?" Ponyboy said "that's dumb" before Ponyboy knew what happened his head was flung to the side and his cheek stung something awful.

"Don't ever talk about my little brother like that" the man thundered as he reached out and slapped Ponyboy as hard as he could across the face, busting Ponyboy's mouth and nose. Blood began gushing down Ponyboy's face. Ponyboy glared at the man before spitting at him.

"You're gonna pay for that" the man said reaching behind Ponyboy and grabbing the leather belt that was hanging on the wall.

"The way you're trying to make my brothers pay for something that was out of their control" Ponyboy mumbled as he felt the leather bite into the sensitive skin on his chest and stomach. Ponyboy yelped and tried to bite back a cry of pain as he was hit several more times. Blood made a river towards the jeans Ponyboy was wearing. Tears silently dripped down Ponyboy's face as pain filled his body as the man began hitting him even harder.

"You'll be lucky if you don't join your parents" the man said as he took his fist and slammed it into the side of Ponyboy's head.

"What do you know about my parents?" Ponyboy mumbled as he once again lost consciousness.

"More then you know" the man said glaring at the limp body tied to the chair "if I can't have my brothers yours can't you" he said before leaving Ponyboy sitting in his own blood.


	15. still missing

-1Chapter 15: Still Missing

Soda's pov-

Darry and I frantically searched every where we thought our little brother would have gone only to find that he was in none of those places. Now we were at the park, sitting at the fountain staring helplessly into the water. Neither of us could understand why Ponyboy had left. Especially since the guy who had killed our parents was still out there. I sighed I just wanted to find Ponyboy and bring him home where he was safe and warm.

"Darry?" I asked quietly, my voice causing him to look up from the water he was staring into. "do you think wherever Ponyboy is that he's safe and warm?" I continued afraid the tears I was holding back would come forth at any second.

"I don't know" Darry replied "I hope so."

"So do I" I admitted slowly "but something is telling me that Ponyboy is hurting right now" after admitting this I couldn't hold the tears back anymore and they flowed down my face. Darry reached out and pulled me to him. I turned my face into his broad, muscular chest and sobbed.

"Oh, Soda", Darry whispered into my hair, "we're going to find Ponyboy and when we do, he's going to be okay" I knew Darry didn't like to think of his youngest brother being in pain, heck neither did I for that matter.

"How?" I asked "we don't even know where he is?"

"I don't know" Darry replied while gently rubbing my back "but I will do whatever it takes to find Ponyboy and bring him home where he belongs."

Two-Bit, Dallas, Johnny and Steve found us like that a few minutes later. I didn't care if I didn't look tough or not. My little brother was missing; I was allowed to look like a mess.

"Find anything?" Darry asked and I noticed the way Steve and Dallas was looking at each other, as if deciding to tell us or not tell us something. I sat up breaking away from Darry's embrace.

"Spill" I demanded they knew something about Ponyboy and I wanted to know what it was.

"We found Ponyboy's track bag with all his clothes" Steve said slowly "but there was no sign of Ponyboy" speechless I turned to look at Darry. My fears coming to a head when I looked into his eyes. My baby brother had been kidnapped.

Darry's pov-

I could see in Soda's eyes what he realized had happened to Ponyboy and I hated it. I knew that his worst fears were coming true about Ponyboy being hurt. Seeing that Soda was starting to shake, I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. Steve quickly joined my by his side and he also put his hand on Soda's shoulder.

"We're going to find Ponyboy and he's going to be okay" Steve said firmly. I was grateful then that Steve was Soda's best friend. Steve had always been sensitive to Soda's needs and he always knew how to help Soda when he needed it. Which wasn't very often.

"Where'd you find his bag?" I asked; my own heart hurting at the thought of Ponyboy being in pain.

"Two blocks from your house" Dallas replied before asking: "do you know where he was headed?" I shook my head and sighed.

"No, and I don't even understand why he left, he knew he was safe at home."

"Maybe he didn't think he was safe" Johnny said quietly "he's a little kid, he needs to feel safe not just be told that he is."

Steve's pov-

I could feel Soda shaking like a leaf underneath my hand and I wished I knew the words to say that would ease his fear. But tonight I just didn't know what to say that would help. I just hoped that wherever Ponyboy was that he wasn't hurt and if he was I hoped he wasn't hurt too bad.

"What if he's scared, Steve?" I heard Soda whisper to me "I don't want him to be scared."

"I know you don't" I said "but I believe the kid is fine" that was an outright lie I was pretty sure the kid was lying hurt somewhere we hadn't looked, he'd probably been jumped by the socs. I wasn't so sure, however, that he'd been kidnapped. The kid is pretty forgetful. Maybe he had set his bag down to do something then just plain forgot that he had put it down. This was a theory I didn't want to share with Soda, considering he was pretty messed up right now. Darry, of course, was trying to be strong for all of us. But I knew that he would crack when no one was around, after all, Darry did love his youngest brother.

"So, now what are we supposed to do? Wait around for the cops to decide that Ponyboy is a runaway?" Dallas asked. Darry shrugged, though, you could tell that he wanted to keep looking for Ponyboy.

"Darry, there's nothing else we can do without getting the cops involved tonight" I said gently, knowing his heart was breaking with the loss of his parents and his missing brother.

Dally's pov-

I still can't believe little Curtis had the nerve to run away. Considering that he would have been just fine if he had stayed with his brothers.

"Blasted kid, you really got yourself into trouble this time didn't you?" I muttered. I had just left the park and was headed to Buck's to go get drunk. I still couldn't get the kid out of my head. Ponyboy may have been quiet but he usually listened to what I told him. Probably because he's scared of you I thought with a smirk. After all, it wasn't like I didn't like him, Ponyboy was a little young, too soft to be sure. But he was a pretty good kid, never caused much trouble unless it was with Steve. Sometimes, I think Ponyboy liked to irritate Steve on purpose. I think its funny that Steve lets a little kid bug him so much.

Having reached my destination, I entered Buck's house, grabbed a beer from the bar then went upstairs. I wanted to find Ponyboy almost as much as Darry did. My gut instinct was telling me we wouldn't be finding baby Curtis alive, and that was a shame because, Ponyboy had a lot of potential. It would be wasted if Ponyboy died now. Sodapop would never be the same again if that happened. Soda and Pony were really close and I didn't want to see their bond broken.

Johnny's pov

I lay on the couch at the Curtis house, and even though it was late, I wasn't able to go to sleep. My thoughts were focused on the missing Ponyboy. Earlier tonight we had discovered that Ponyboy had been kidnapped and I was beginning to wonder if Ponyboy was even still alive. After all he did witness his parents murder, which that in and of itself was going to have a huge effect on Ponyboy. But if the killer did have Ponyboy then surely the killer would have done away with Ponyboy, so that the killer still had his freedom.

"That's not fair to Ponyboy" I muttered out loud, it didn't matter how loud I was I knew Darry and Soda wouldn't be sleeping right now anyways. "besides it wasn't like Ponyboy would have told the cops anything, he was too scared, and I don't blame him." I turned over on my side facing the room when I heard one of the bedroom doors open and saw Darry exit his bedroom.

"Can't sleep?" he asked coming into the room and sitting in his armchair. I shook my head no.

"I can't get Ponyboy out of my head" I admitted.

"Neither can I" Darry sighed "I just wish I knew what they wanted Ponyboy for, he's just a little boy."

"Who witnessed his parents murder" I said "which makes me think that we won't find him alive."

"I agree, whoever has him, probably already killed him, but for Soda's sake we have to keep looking for him." I agreed with him before rolling over on my back to stare up at the ceiling .


	16. More Pain

-1Chapter 16: More Pain

Ponyboy's pov-

I sat tied in the chair, tired, sore, hungry, frustrated, that I was still held in this dark room, with no one to keep me calm. I had regained consciousness a few minutes ago, and had woken to a lot of pain from the raw welts on my stomach and chest. The blood was now dry and sticky. I wondered briefly if this guy would at least let me clean it off.

"Yeah, he'll let you do that and then he'll put a bullet in your head" I muttered to myself, that was another thing that was getting on my nerves I was talking to myself a whole lot. I wished that I had never left I mean I did think I was protecting my brothers but it didn't do them any good after all I'm nowhere to be found and the only thing I'm doing is digging my own grave. I won't be getting out of here alive" I muttered.

I sighed I didn't like the direction that my depressed thoughts had taken but I knew it was true I wouldn't get to see my brothers again.

"I'm sorry Soda, I wish I could have talked to you about what happened but I was so scared" I muttered "Scared for my life"

"Which done you a whole lot of good. You'll lose your life before you ever leave here" the voice appeared out of nowhere and startled me so much that I jumped and the wires cut into my already aching wrists. I yelped as they began bleeding once more. But still I glared at the man standing in front of me. His smirk grew even wider.

"I can feel your hate" he said "and I don't blame you for that after all, I'm going to be the one to take your young life from you."

"Why I'm just a little kid" I said "what will killing me do?"

"I told you already, its payback, your oldest brother, Darrel, killed Tommy so in return my killing you is only right" the man explained patiently as if nothing in the world could bother him. "besides I like making people afraid of me"

"I'm already afraid of you, so let me go back to my brothers" I said.

"That's a no go" the man said "you'll die before you ever leave here"

"Yeah, from hating you so much" I snorted angrily.

"For such a small boy, you have a smart mouth" the man said "and around here that gets punished"

Great more bleeding I thought it's a miracle that I haven't bled to death already.

"I wish you would kill me already, I hate being here thinking about my brothers and friends"

"You haven't suffered enough to earn death yet" the man said smiling as if he had just told the worlds funniest joke.

"I bet Tommy was glad he died" I said.

"Why do you say that?" he asked after viciously slapping me across my face.

"You enjoy this too much, I bet you done the same thing to him that you're doing to me, I can't imagine that I'm the first person you've beat to death." from the look on the guys face I knew I was right and I knew I was going to pay for my comments and pay dearly.

"Tommy never was scared of me, not the way I wanted him to be" the guy said "I had to teach him somehow"

"That's just sick, you beating the brother you were supposed to protect" I said and he smirked at me. I could tell he had something different planned for me this time and I wondered briefly how much it would hurt. I glared at the man as I watched him pull out a chain instead of a leather belt.

"Soda, Darry, help me" I pleaded as the man pulled back the chain and swung it full force into my side. I felt my skin rip open and I screamed in agony, tearing through my body as he hit me over and over again. By the time he was done striking me I couldn't even lift my head I was so weak. I wanted my brothers badly then to come and save me from this pain that I was in.

I closed my eyes hoping that my pain would ease some, but it didn't. So, I sat there miserable and hurting; longing for my brothers, knowing they didn't even have a clue as to where I was. I didn't have a clue as to where I was.

I opened my eyes when I heard footsteps behind me. I froze hoping that it wasn't the man and that he wasn't going to beat me again. Unfortunately, that exactly what he was there to do.

Instead of hitting me on the stomach and chest like he had earlier, he hit me hard across my face with the chain. I yelped and screamed as the chain hit me; digging and tearing my flesh open. I let out a really loud scream when the chain hit me in my eye. Blood was already streaming down my face but even more blood began gushing from my eye.

Tears began streaming down from my good eye as I begged to lose consciousness, it didn't come. So I continued crying and begging him to stop though I knew he wouldn't until he wanted to. He continued to beat me with the chain wherever he could until finally I just closed my eyes and breathed my last breath.


	17. discovery of the body

-1Chapter 17: payback

The Man's pov-

Ponyboy Curtis had died an hour ago, and I was very joyful, part two of my plan would soon be put into action. The only requirement was that Ponyboy Curtis be dead. I smirked the kid had thought he would escape and make his way back to his brothers, even after I had told him that wasn't the case. I chuckled at the memory of the little boy begging me to stop beating him, and full out laughed at the sound of hearing him cry out for his brothers. As if they would be able to help him. I had told him time and time again that he would never again look upon their grinning faces, but he still believed that he could escape. As if I would risk that especially after he saw me kill his parents. Now I needed a new kid to teach, Ponyboy Curtis had not been the first kid that I killed then again neither was Tommy. I sighed thinking about my little brother, it didn't have to end that way for him, if he had not have threatened to call the cops he would still be alive. Too bad though the cops he had called didn't get to him before I did, I started the fire that had killed Tommy, whom had never even left the house when the fire got started. Darrel Curtis never had anything to do with it, he was just another guy who was considered better at football than me.

I smiled as thought that Darrel didn't even know his youngest brother was dead yet; but he would soon. And I would be there when the two Curtis' found their beloved baby brother. It would tear their world apart. Even if I had to be in the shadows watching, I would be there. I smiled down at the lifeless body of the youngest Curtis. Yep, this was the perfect payback. For Darrel being chosen over me. I took the chain and hit the body once more, but didn't get any satisfaction because a dead body cannot cry out. Although when the boy was alive , his crying got annoying after a while, the kid was better off dead. His brothers should be happy that he's gone after all the trouble he's caused them. I smiled once again as I cut the wires off the dead boy's wrists, then lifting the body onto my shoulder I walked up the stairs and out of the house into the dead of night. I lived way back in the woods so no one could see what I was doing. I couldn't wait to see the look on the Curtis' faces it would be priceless.

I heaved the body into the trunk then slammed the door shut. This was my favorite part, the families discovery of the body. I drove silently to my destination, smiling to myself. Five minutes later I pulled up to curve next to the Curtis house. Since it was night no one would wonder why I was parked there. And since there was parties going on, on one would see me dump the body and leave.

I quickly removed the body from my car and gently placed him on his back in the middle of the yard. They probably wouldn't discover him tonight since it was so late. And surely by now they were all in bed since it was after 3 in the morning. I chuckled as I stood and I looked down on the badly beaten boy's face, blood still drying on his face. If he had lived he would have been blind in the one eye because he had been hit, and it damaged the eyeball.

"Just remember Curtis" I muttered "you deserved this and so did your brothers" I spoke to the body as if it was still alive, and the brothers had thought they'd get him back alive, such a shame. I turned and headed for my car, I didn't want to get caught out here, not after all my hard work. I had came through too much to be caught and jailed now.


	18. discovery of the body cont

-1Chapter 18: discovery of the body

Soda's POV-

I had just waken up and thoughts of my still missing little brother filled my head, I couldn't get his sweet, lazy, grin out of my head. Ponyboy was special; one of the few that would actually make it out of this neighborhood, if he was given the chance. Darry would make sure that Ponyboy had his chance to get away from the toils of this wasted life on the wrong side of the tracks. I missed Ponyboy and wished that he was here with me now. I knew that wherever he was, he was probably scared and alone and I didn't want him to be. I wished I could comfort him until help arrived to bring him back to us. But I knew that there was nothing I could do, I was just a worried older brother, who wasn't even smart enough to finish school.

I sighed as I sat up, we were looking for Ponyboy again today, and would spend all day looking if that's what it took. I wished Darry would hurry up in the shower, we had came in late last night, so I didn't even bother getting in the shower just went straight to bed. Although I didn't go straight to sleep instead I laid awake thinking about my brother and what life would be like without him. Ponyboy just wasn't like everybody else, he actually had a future. He wouldn't have to stay in this neighborhood the rest of his life. Like most of the our gang would. I just hoped that he would live to see the day that he graduated from high school and even after that college.

Sighing once more I stood and I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen ignoring the window between the two rooms. I wasn't in the best of moods this morning and seeing the sunshine wouldn't improve it any. I walked over to my cabinet and grabbed a bowl that I poured cereal into. After I poured milk into I sat at the table and took a bite but like yesterday it just tasted like cardboard so I pushed it away and lay my head down on the table. Ponyboy's laughter filled my head as I remembered the night Two-Bit had replaced Darry's water with vodka. The look on Darry's face when he took a drink was priceless. It had all of us laughing our butts off, but Ponyboy had laughed more than usual that night. Tears filled my eyes as I thought of my still missing baby brother. Ponyboy didn't deserve for this to happen to him, not so soon after witnessing his parents death.

Hearing a scream coming from outside I jumped up, upsetting my chair, as I ran out of the kitchen and slammed outside onto the porch. When I looked at where Johnny was standing I saw a body. Racing across the yard I dropped down beside it. It was my Ponyboy alright and a badly beaten Ponyboy at that. My heart constricted painfully as I realized he was dead and he would never walk through our door again.

Johnny's POV-

I had spent the night at the Curtis house, knowing that at first light, we would be off looking for Ponyboy again. We wouldn't stop until the youngest was safe at home. I missed my young friend something awful, there was this emptiness in the air whenever he wasn't around. I couldn't explain it didn't want to. Ponyboy was my best friend and I was used to talking to him every single day. He had always been there for me whenever I needed someone to talk to, when I was depressed and didn't want to go on. Ponyboy had talked me out of killing myself countless times and I didn't know what I would do without him. I know that Dally is my hero and everything but I couldn't tell him about how much it hurt me when my parents were beating on me.

Sitting up I decided I would go outside for a smoke. Stepping outside and onto the porch something still, caught my eye and I wondered what it was. I stepped off the porch and began walking towards it. When I reached it I stared in shock, the body of my best friend lay before me. I couldn't believe how bad he had been beaten, it was so bad you could barely tell that it was Ponyboy. His face still had dried blood on it, and you could tell that something had hurt one of his eyes, it just didn't look right. I knew that if he had been alive he would have been blind in that eye. My best friend didn't deserve this kind of end, not by a long shot. My parents didn't deserve this kind of end. And I hated them with a passion. Before I realized what I was doing I screamed, and a few seconds later I heard the front door slam. I watched Soda drop to his knees when he realized that the body was that of his beloved baby brother.

"My poor baby" Soda whispered before breaking down into sobs.


	19. Chapter 19

Thanks for the reviews, there is something you need to understand, I think I told KATELYN-KRIS that not everything is as seem (from the karate kid, great movie) if I had really killed Ponyboy this story would end there, but I'm not yet finished with it. so please just keep reading and reviewing and please be patient you will soon see what I have in store for this story, Thanks a million~ Lizzieten~

Chapter 19:

Darry's POV-

I had just stepped out of the restroom when I noticed the unusual sound of silence in the house. This couldn't be good; silence never was not when Two-Bit and Soda were around. Between the two of them it was a surprise we even had a house, I never was surprised when they came home with a bruise or two. It was just so typical of them that it didn't even matter. Ponyboy on the other hand was not so much a klutz as his brother, and if you seen a bruise on him it was because he had gotten in a fight or jumped or something. Not because he was clumsy. I hung my head at the thought of Ponyboy, I couldn't stand the thought of someone intentionally hurting my little angel. Ponyboy was innocent; had a chance to get out of our neighborhood and I hoped he would live to be able to do that.

I walked through the hallway and into the kitchen when I happened to glance out the window in the living room and saw why the boys were so quiet. They were all standing in a circle surrounding something in the yard. Breakfast forgotten my curiosity got the better of me, and I headed outside to see what they were staring at. As I approached them I noticed that Soda was on his knees. With my heart jumping into my throat, I quickened my pace and reached them in a few more seconds.

When I saw what they were staring at I froze, I couldn't believe it. My own baby brother lying lifeless in his older brother's arms. I felt like my heart had just been ripped out of my chest. What sense did it make that a little boy's life had been taken away before he had even began to live it. My parents would be ashamed of me, I let Ponyboy get murdered; it was my fault he was dead. If I had made him talk to me maybe he wouldn't have ran away and he wouldn't have been killed. I felt like I was stuck in mud, I couldn't move, I couldn't kneel beside Soda, and brush the hair away from Ponyboy's badly bruised face, like I wanted to. I wanted to kiss that lifeless forehead and tell him it would be okay.

Steve's POV-

I couldn't believe it, Ponyboy Curtis, the kid who had always annoyed me, was dead. Never to irritate me again.

"Ponyboy, you could bug me whenever you wanted if you weren't like this:" I thought sorry about every mean thing I had ever done to him. "You didn't deserve for this to happen to you" I felt sick to my stomach as I watched Soda cradle his lifeless little brother. I couldn't believe anyone would beat a kid like this. Even the socs didn't resort to this kind of violence, so whoever had done this was seriously sick and twisted.

I heard a gasp from somewhere on my left I tore my gaze away from Soda and saw Darry. The look on his face was nearly unbearable to look at. Darry's whole world had just been crushed and he had turned to a statue just standing there staring. My heart hurt for him and Soda I knew they hadn't been expecting it to be this bad, none of us did. You could barely tell that it was Ponyboy.

"Darry" Soda whispered not looking up at his older brother, "they beat him to death" Darry gave no indication of having even heard Soda. "why couldn't they just shoot him, that would have killed him quicker."

"I think the point was to make him suffer, Soda" I said quietly "they wanted him to be in pain."

Dally's POV

Ponyboy's death came as no surprise, to me anyway. We had all known, somehow, that we wouldn't find him alive. What had surprised me was how badly the little boy had been beaten. I could feel anger begin to course through me as I watched Soda hold onto his little brother.

I had jumped several people and beaten them but even I had never left them in this condition. Briefly I wondered how long Ponyboy had been alive during this beating. I hoped it wasn't very long. I know it sounds cruel to think that but I didn't want the kid to suffer and be in pain.

"I will find out who done this" I growled "and they will look worse than even baby Curtis looks"

"Even if you find the person responsible for doing this" Steve said "killing them won't change anything, Ponyboy will still be dead"

"He's a little boy he shouldn't be dead" I hissed at Steve, my eyes narrowing as I stared at him. Steve didn't even want to mess with me right now. I would break his jaw if he persisted in bugging me. I wanted to deal with the kids death in my own way and I wasn't going to do it here. I turned and headed down the street without a backward glance.

"Getting drunk won't help either" Steve shouted, screw him I thought its not like he actually cared about Ponyboy anyways.

Two-Bit's POV-

I couldn't believe Ponyboy was gone it seemed like yesterday I was making fun of him for walking all the way home from school in his socks. I could still see his embarrassed face in my mind, the red cheeks that went right along with his red ears, which had always made me make fun of him even more for that. Calling him Mr. Tomato head.

I couldn't understand the kind of evil that this person had, had in him to beat a child to death. Somehow I didn't think I would ever understand it, didn't want to really, it wouldn't actually mean anything if I knew what made this guy work. Something's can't be explained.

I wanted to go get blasted out of my head drunk but at the same time I wanted to be here for the two Curtis brothers. This wasn't going to be easy on them. They had both loved Ponyboy more then their own lives and now I'm sure they felt like they had their hearts dug out with a dull spoon. That's what I wanted to do with the guy responsible for ripping Darry's and Soda's hearts out.


	20. what now?

-1Chapter 20: What now?

Soda's POV~

I sat helpless on the ground, what was left of my little brother was in my arms. I couldn't believe a person could be so cruel, to take someone's brother away from them right after they had lost their parents. It wasn't fair. I had wanted Ponyboy to grow up and get out of this town there was just something about Ponyboy that made him special. We had all known he would graduate high school and then college. Tears flooded my eyes as I thought of all the things he would never get to do ran through my mind. Graduate school, college, get married, have little Ponyboy's of his own. I laughed to myself about the thought of a mini Ponyboy. I couldn't see it. Ponyboy was so shy around girls it was hard to imagine him being married. This shouldn't be happening I thought there's no way this should be happening. Darry and I shouldn't have to bury our little brother. He was only twelve years old, what sense does it make that someone would take a little kids life before he had yet to begin.

Tears began making their way down my face in earnest as I thought of my younger brother who would soon be lying six feet under the ground. Soon that would be happening , I would be lying Ponyboy to rest beside our parents. I bent down and brushed my lips against Ponyboy's hair. My heart ached, longing for Ponyboy to open his eyes and laughed at me telling me I was stupid for thinking he was dead. I knew that this couldn't happen, it just my heart trying to save itself from the oncoming pain. I sobbed quietly into Ponyboy's hair this was not happening this was not happening, I kept muttering to myself. I hugged him to me as if afraid he would disappear as soon as I let him go.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up briefly to see a shell shocked Darry standing beside me. I stared into the cold hard gaze of an older brother who didn't think things would end this way. I could see the tears brimming in Darry's eyes; getting ready to spill. I wished I could say something but my mouth felt like it was filled with sand, and no sound came out. Just looking at Darry made me realize my fears were coming true, Ponyboy would never be coming back to us again. That was when I heard the siren, looking up I saw an ambulance and a police officer. I realized they were here to take Ponyboy away and I clung to him tighter. They weren't taking my little brother away from me, not by a long shot. Ponyboy would be okay he was just asleep, later he would wake up and laugh at us for being so stupid.

I glared at the paramedic who approached me with the stretcher, he frowned when he noticed that I just tightened my grip on Ponyboy. He must have realized that I had no intention of letting him take Ponyboy away from me. He turned to his partner and muttered a few words, then he looked at Darry. Darry nodded and then turned and kneeled beside me. He gently tried to pry my fingers away from Ponyboy's arm.

"NO" I hissed at him "Ponyboy's just asleep, he'll wake up later." Darry once more tried to pry my arms off of Ponyboy and I bent down and my teeth clamped down onto his arm.

"OW" Darry yelped, staring at me, I stared back as if daring him to try it again. I wouldn't let no one take my brother, not before his time was done and finished. Not before he had a chance to leave this neighborhood.

"You didn't have to bite" I heard him mutter to himself before turning to the paramedics and shrugging. I continued to glare at them hoping they would back down and leave us alone. No dice they only went to the ambulance and grabbed a syringe and filled it with a liquid and poked it into my arm. I yelped and swung my fist at one and hit him square in the nose. I smiled with satisfaction as I watched the blood fall. I few seconds later I felt sleepy and could barely hold my head up but I held onto Ponyboy for dear life. I wouldn't let these people take him away from me.

"You're not getting my brother" I muttered as my eyes closed and I slumped over unconscious. I didn't feel them lay me on my back or them taking Ponyboy away. I just felt like I was being held down against my control and I couldn't do anything about it.

~Darry's POV~

I hated what I had to do to Soda, but I could see in his eyes that he had no intention of letting the paramedics take Ponyboy's body away. I knew that deep down Soda understood that Ponyboy was no more, but in reality he was in shock. I felt like Ponyboy wasn't really gone myself, it was hard for me to comprehend that he was dead. I didn't want to, but Soda was going to need my help in the long run. I was going to be there for him, I would deal with my grief later on, right now I had a little brother who was in pain and wouldn't let the authorities take away the body. What was left of my youngest brother.

I gently picked up Soda's body as the paramedics lifted Ponyboy's onto a gurney and then placed a sheet over him covering even his face. I walked into the house with Soda not wanting to see them take Ponyboy away. Knowing if I did I would break and would run after them, and beg for them not to take him away from us. I needed him as much as I needed Sodapop and I wished I had gotten the chance to say that to him. I was afraid that Ponyboy died not knowing how much I loved him . I placed Soda on the couch then walked into the kitchen with my back to the window. I could feel hot tears stream down my face, as I placed my head in my hands. What must my parents think of me right now, knowing that I let their baby get murdered? What do I think of myself, after all I was supposed to protect him, keep him safe from those things that would take his life. I should have been the one that had beat him to death, after all I done a bad job of protecting him.


	21. will it ever end?

Chapter 21: Will it ever end?

~Darry's POV-

After the paramedics had left, everyone had drifted into the house. No one wanted to leave before Soda woke up. He would need help to accept this lose of another family member. I would need help, I was still in shock myself and I knew it would be a long time before I was over this loss. There were only two Curtis' left and I knew that if Soda found out who had done this, I might not have him anymore, he would get himself killed by going after this guy. I would have to find a way to convince him not to go anywhere, then and only then would I have time to let my broken heart heal.

I had placed Soda on the couch, I wish I hadn't needed to have drugged him but it was the only way of getting him to release Ponyboy's body. I hoped I wasn't around when he woke up, I couldn't imagine the pain he would be in, when he realized that Pony had been taken away from us for good. Tears filled my eyes as I remembered what was left of Ponyboy's body. I wished I could go out and kill the man or woman responsible for ripping my family apart yet again. I imagined literally ripping the persons head of their shoulders. Seeing the blood pouring from the gaping wound from what was left. I wanted to see the person's life run out of the guy. I wanted to beat the life out of him, to literally tear it from like he had torn Ponyboy's life. The more I thought about the angrier I got, I knew I had to get my mind onto something else otherwise, I would end up hurting someone close to me and I would rather that that not happen. Sighing I headed into my bedroom and closed the door behind me and laid down on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling trying to force the images of Ponyboy out of my head. It was hard to do. But I didn't want to remember him the way he was found, I wanted to remember a smiling, laughing, young kid. Who wasn't afraid of anything until he witnessed his parents murder.

"Pony-baby, I wish you could know how much I love you and miss you, the world will never be the same without you here," I whispered, filling the tears pool in my eyes, "even Steve misses you, nothing will ever be the same." finally, lying on my bed, I released all the grief I had in my heart, and sobbed openly behind closed doors. After what felt like ages the tears came to an end and I lay weak on the bed, wishing and longing for my youngest brother to come through the door, I knew however, that would never happen again.

~Soda POV~

A ghost like Ponyboy stood at the couch beside Soda. he just stood there as if waiting for someone to follow him. He stood staring into the house, with nothing going on, not a sound being made. Everyone sitting on the couch lost in thought, Darry was nowhere in site, but Ponyboy knew Darry would be in his room, either sleeping or weeping for his loses. He kneeled beside Soda and raised his hand and gently brushed the hair out of Soda's eyes then bent down and kissed Soda's forehead.

"Soda" the ghost like figure whispered "Everything is not as it seems, if you look close enough you will find the truth" with that the ghost disappeared and I awoke with a quiet yelp. I had dreamed that my baby brother had been standing next to me. Had in fact kissed my forehead. What was it that Ponyboy had said, something about not everything being what it looked like? I didn't know, I just knew that my baby brother was gone and never to return. I wished I could change it but death was final no one could bring a child back from death. Tears filled my eyes as I remembered that ghostly presence that had been standing beside me. It had been like Ponyboy had been alive, not a bruise or a drop of blood on him, he had looked not quiet happy but like he was desperately trying to get a point across like there was something I was missing, that he thought I was smart enough to realize. I missed my little brother something awful, nothing would ever be able to replace him in my heart, though I knew I would have people that would try to replace him, I refused to let anyone get that close to me, again, I wouldn't lose them like I lost Pony. Pony had been a child though he didn't deserve to die the way he did, he was in a better place, he had joined our parents wherever they were. I could only hope that Pony was happy now that he was no longer suffering and in pain. I prayed that whoever had kidnapped him then murdered him in cold blood got what he deserved.

~Johnny POV~

I sat on the floor in front of the couch where Soda lay sleeping, I still couldn't believe what I had stumbled upon this morning. My best friend was gone now, I wondered briefly who I would tell about how much it hurt when my parents beat me. Ponyboy had been there for me whenever I was badly hurt, he would talk me through the pain. I just wanted to know that wherever he was that his parents were now taking care of him once more. He didn't deserve to lose his parents the way he did. And he surely didn't deserve to witness it. As I sat there I heard Darry crying in his bedroom. I felt bad for Darry especially, he had tried so hard to keep his family together and now it seemed it was falling apart at the seams. If the police didn't catch the person who had done this I would somehow find him and kill him myself. No one deserved to die before their time was near. Except for this guy he deserved to die right on the spot, there was no room in the world for someone who was so evil they had murdered a child.


	22. Chapter 22

-1Chapter 22: I'll be missing you

Steve's POV~

I sat beside the couch that Soda was sleeping on, my head leaning back against the cushion and staring up at the ceiling. I felt sorry for my best friend, he had lost more than any one person I knew and he didn't deserve it. I still had a hard time believing that the young kid had been murdered. I knew that in my stone cold heart it wasn't likely that he wouldn't be found again. I hated myself for thinking that, but it was me and I couldn't change. Anyways, as I sat there I wondered about the possibility of the body not even being Ponyboy's just someone that looked a lot like him, even as I pondered this I knew I was going crazy, sitting there waiting for Soda to wake up. The kid would still be alive if he had opened up to his brothers, they would have done everything to keep him safe and protected. Especially Darry, he was proud of his little brother and he would have died for him if the situation had died for it. I wondered how it would be like if my old man loved me as much as Darry loved his kid brothers. I probably wouldn't be stuck in this place they try to call a Tulsa.

"Ponyboy, please don't leave me again, it hurts without you by my side" Soda moaned quietly and I turned to stare at him, feeling sympathy for my best friend. It saddened me to think that Soda thought he was talking to his little brother. I, of course, knew that there was no way possible for him to do that.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

~Johnny's POV~

I lay in the empty lot staring up at the starless sky, though it was cold out, I found out that I preferred the cold to the saddness I could feel at the Curtis house. I guess I just wanted to be alone to deal with my own pain. Ponyboy had been my best friend for a long time. I had never imagined that death would separate us. Shows how much I know I thought wishing I could see Ponyboy's smile again. The kid had been full of joy and love when it came down to it there was never a happier person then Ponyboy. I wished that I could have been there when Pony had died. I would have held him while he released his grip on life. Of course, I would tried to get him help first. What person wouldn't try to keep their best friend from dying. I just wished that Ponyboy hadn't been alone, just being there for him would have made it easier.

Sighing I silently wiped my tears away I would find who done this to him. While I knew I could inflict no harm on that man or boy because It was not in my nature to cause harm to others I knew someone who would be able to because he loved Ponyboy just as much as I did.

~Two-Bit's POV~

I lay on the couch and silently listened to the cries of the heart broken Curtis family and it made me want to cry just listening to them. I couldn't believe Ponyboy was gone in truth I don't think I wanted to believe it because something in my gut was saying that Ponyboy was alive or maybe I had just drunk too much and I was wishing Ponyboy was still alive either way right now I didn't feel too good.

Moaning I felt my stomach lurching I lept to my feet dashing through the living room to the bathroom. Throwing myself across the floor to the toilet, I barely made it as my stomach heaved and I emptied its contents.

When I finished I laid my head in my palms . I couldn't believe life was so cruel that it would steal the life from a child. Especially when that child had barely lived at all in the first place. I sat there for what seemed like hours unable to make myself move. I still had the feeling that somewhere out there Ponyboy was alive and if I had to travel worldwide I would find him and bring him home where he belonged. B

~Steve's POV~

I sat with Soda as he cried, my hand on his shoulder. I wished I could comfort him because when he hurt so did I, that's how in tune I was with how he felt. I know that nothing I do can take Soda's pain away, trust me if there was I way I would do it, no one deserved to lose both his parents and then his little brother to murder.

With Soda's every cry I began to hate myself that much more. I had been terrible to Ponyboy when he was alive and now nothing I done would ever make up for it. I hated to admit this but even I was starting to miss the kid bugging Soda and me. I wished I could bring Ponyboy back but nothing could bring a child back from death.

Ten minutes later Soda stopped crying and just lay silent on his bed. I kept my hand on his shoulder just to let him know I was there and I wasn't going to leave him.

"I don't want to believe he's gone, Steve" Soda said his voice muffled by the pillow he had his face buried in.

"I know you don't" I said "but you'll get through this and I will be by your side the whole way" Soda turned and looked at me giving me a brief smile.

~Soda's POV~

Lying on my bed crying for my lost little brother, I felt Steve's hand on my shoulder. And at that moment I was glad that Steve was my best friend, I had no doubt in the world that he would stay by my side guarding me until I was ready to face the world again.

"I'm so sorry" I heard Steve whisper "you shouldn't be going through this right now." I sighed and turned over on my back so that I could see him. "What am I going to do without Pony, Steve? He was the happiest person in the world that I have ever known." Steve was silent for a moment he sighed before replying.

"its going to be tough for a while but eventually you will learn how to live without him"

"I don't want to live without him I wish this simply was a case of mistaken identity" I said Steve snorted.

"There's one in a million chance that that body wasn't Ponyboy's" he said I glared at him.

"I know it was Pony's and I know the chance for that not being him is slim to none" I scowled staring up at the ceiling. Steve had sensitivity problems, I glanced over to find him scowling at the wall.0

~Dally's POV~

I spent the night at Bucks, or you could call it a night I don't recall doing much sleeping, I do remember having a couple of beers in reflection of Ponyboy's death and I had come to the conclusion that the body in the Curtis yard wasn't Ponyboy.

By morning however I had forgotten all about this conclusion. I had other things on my mind, like paying Tom back for slipping me some meth when what I really needed was some time to think things through. I had spent a good portion of the night flying high as a kite and when I did sleep it was all night and most of the next day. I wasn't a habitual drug user I only used Meth when I needed an energy boost. Here lately however I have begun to use Meth more and more to get me through the days. I was fast becoming addicted and knew I needed to cut back on my usage that's why Tim slipping me some had made me angry. I headed downstairs and out of Buck's house, didn't really know where I was going except that I wasn't going to the Curtis house. I don't really know why I was avoiding that place just that I was, maybe it was because I couldn't stand the air of sadness around that place and the site of people crying bugs me to no end but then again maybe it had to do with how I could have prevented Ponyboy's kidnapping to begin with and I hated myself because I didn't do anything and now the kid was dead.

~Darry's POV~

I had just exited the funeral home where I had made the arrangments for my youngest brothers funeral. It didn't feel right that I had to bury a 12 year old kid, nobody deserved to die that young least of all Ponyboy. Maybe if I had gotten him to talk then none of this would have happened and my baby brother would still be alive and enjoying his life. Then again I don't know of anything I could have done differently. I just wished I could have been a better guardian that I could have protected him better. Now Soda and I had to manage to get through yet another loss, something I didn't even want to think about because it wasn't right. I should have died before Ponyboy then it should have been Soda. that's the way it was supposed to go yet here we were planning his funeral. I wished I could see the light in his eyes just one more time there was just something about that kid, he was sharp as a tack, he could have gone far. I though as I walked out to my truck, upon getting in I lay my head on the steering wheel and cried. This just wasn't right, no one should have to be going through what we were. I had just wanted to keep my family safe and somehow for some reason I was unable to do that and now I was paying there price for it. Well, I would do my best to see that Soda stayed alive until it was his time to go.

"I'm so sorry Pony that I couldn't be the brother you needed me to be. The brother that could have kept you safe I'm so sorry that you felt you couldn't talk to me about your fears." I sobbed quietly my chest heaving as I cried the tears that I refused to let the others see. No one would see me cry I didn't want them to know I wasn't the tough guy they thought I was.

**I am sorry for not updating sooner. I had to rewrite this chapter 3 times because my computer kept erasing it before I could post it. I plan on updating again soon so keep those reviews coming thanks Lizzie10**


	24. Chapter 24

I apologize for not updating in forever, I am working on it. I don't have the internet at home and I usually go the library to post my updates but the library recently blocked fanfiction so now I'll have to wait until I can get my laptop and find a place with wireless internet. I will work really hard to get more chapters up as soon as possible Thanks for understanding. Lizzieten


	25. the real chapter 24

Chapter 24: The morning of the funeral

~Darry's POV~

Today was the day destined for me to bury my youngest brother, oh how I wish it wasn't so. I wished with all my heart that I could once more hear the sound of Ponyboy's voice laughing as me and Soda tickled him away. I would give anything in the world for me just to be able to hold Ponyboy in my arms once more. I realize now that he's not here I must have seemed awful distant to him, I realize that I couldn't remember the last time I had told him that I loved him. What kind of big brother does that? Not the very good kind, let me tell you I regretted not being able to help Ponyboy, not really doing anything to help him with the problems he was facing with whoever had killed our parents. Speaking of no more clues as to who done it either. It was hard knowing that whoever had a taken our parents away from us wouldn't be punished.

Sighing I stood to me feet and walked to the closet it was time to get ready to bury my heart and soul. Finally time to say goodbye, although my heart didn't want to. I struggled to keep the tears at bay as I slid into the suit. I wondered briefly how much more lose I would be able to take before something happened to me. I couldn't see myself making it through today, and if I did it would be a miracle to say the least.

I drew in a quivering breath; it was time to go tell Soda to get ready to go; though I didn't want to, the sigh of Soda grieving made my own heart break again even though it felt like it was already broken into a million pieces. Stepping out of my room and into the hallway, I marched slowly and silently to what used to be Ponyboy's and Soda's room. I knocked on the door before just walking in to find Soda curled up into a ball around Ponyboy's pillow.

"It's time to get dressed we have to be at the funeral home in 30 minutes" I say as I gently sit down on the edge of the bed. Placing my hand upon Soda's shoulder I could feel his body quivering from his sobs.

"I don't want to do this Darry" Soda said " I won't be able to make it through the service."

"I don't know how I will make it either" I said softly "but we have to this is the last time we get to tell Ponyboy goodbye."

"We shouldn't have to tell him goodbye" Soda muttered but sat up and put his feet on the floor. "he's too young to be going wherever it is that he's going to"

"There is no denying the truth in that" I say "but think about how it would make Ponyboy feel if he could know that you didn't want to come see him off." I said staring at a wrinkle in the sheet.

"He wouldn't want me to not go especially since I'll never get to see him again." Soda said getting off the bed and crossing the floor and heading of the bedroom.

"I'm gonna go take a shower before we leave"

"That's fine" I mutter as I grab Ponyboy's pillow and pull it to my face. Inhaling what was left of my little brothers scent.

Soda's POV

As I ran the water for my shower, I realized Darry was right today would be the last chance I got to say goodbye. I wouldn't waste a minute of it, because my baby brother meant the world to me and I would see him off no matter how much it hurt. Standing under the water, I let my tears wash down my face. I knew the day ahead of me would be really hard. I couldn't imagine living the rest of my life without seeing my brother. It didn't make sense that he had died in the first place considering he was just a little kid. I loved that kid with all of my heart and I would make sure somehow that he knew how much I loved him, wherever he was. He would know.

When I was done showering I headed back to my room and slid into my suit. Hopefully it would be the last suit I wore for a long while. When I exited the room I headed into the family room where I noticed that all of the gang was already there. Steve standing by the door approached me.

"I am so sorry we couldn't do anything for him" Steve said, while gently squeezing my shoulder.

"There was nothing you could do" I mumbled quietly.


	26. funeral pt 1

Chapter 24

Soda's POV~

Looking at the clock I noticed that it was time to get ready to leave and go to the dreaded funeral home. I didn't want to I wish there was a way that we could get out of having to say goodbye for the final time. But I knew there wasn't and I would just have learn to accept that he's gone. I didn't know if I ever would be able to accept that. It just seemed so impossible that Ponyboy was actually gone, how I longed to know that he was alive and well someplace anyplace it didn't matter as long as he was alive. To be able to take him in my arms once more and to tell him I loved him. Sighing, I felt like I would start crying again at any moment and I tried to hold them back. My baby brother would 't want to see me like this depressed and sad because he was taken from his family. I would find the man and rip his guts out for what he done to my family and then I would let Darry and the other guys have their shot at him. There would be no going back we would kill this guy. Sighing once more I stood to my feet and walked out of the bedroom, I would bury my little brother then the real work would begin. I wouldn't rest until this guy was six feet under. I also had the feeling that none of the other guys would either. Tears flooded my eyes as I walked out of the house and headed towards the pickup truck where Darry was already waiting.

Opening the door on the truck I noticed that Darry jumped started as if be had 't been waiting for me. Staring at my older brothers face I saw the pain in his eyes . Pain and regret.

"Darry " I said quietly "you done everything you could to find Pony and I'm sure wherever Ponyboy is now he knows you done what you could."

"It wasn't good enough" Darry muttered "my best was not anywhere near good enough otherwise Pony would be here with us" Darry turned away from me although he was hiding his face I had the feeling that he was crying. Getting in the truck I turned and stared out the window. Feeling helpless I sat silent until we got to the funeral home. I knew Darry felt horrible about the way things had turned out, felt that he should have been able to stop it and bring our little brother home. I wished it could have turned out that way. No one can explain why all the bad things seem to happen to the greasers. One day maybe I would get to ask why my little brother was stolen from us. Until then I would have to learn to live without him, though it hurt and I didn't want to I would have to let Ponyboy go. Sighing I got out of the truck I walked into the place where I would have to say goodbye forever.

Darry-

I watched silently as Soda headed into the funeral home with his head bent down it didn't seem possible that it was time to let Ponyboy go. He was only alive such a short time. I should have been able to find him and the man that had kidnapped my little brother and then cruelly murdered him. I should have been able to stop it. I don't care what Soda said I should have been there for my youngest brother maybe Pony would still be alive. I could feel the anger rising like smoke and I knew I had to cool it down. I needed to be strong for Soda and the rest of the gang we like to call our adopted brothers. They would need me to be strong for them, they weren't prepared for the murder of the youngest boy in the group. Not that I had been prepared either but I had the feeling we weren't going to be getting Ponyboy back not if it was the guy I was thinking it was that had kidnapped him. I wished that the funeral was over already I was not ready to let my baby brother go.

Getting out of the truck, I felt a drop of water hit me on the head as I looked up it began to pour down rain. As the rain fell so did my tears I couldn't hold them back any longer. I know I was superman to everyone else but today I felt like I was slowly drowning in my pain and I had no way to release it. My youngest brother did not deserve this end. Falling to my knees I sobbed like I had just found out I had a few hours to live. Which at this moment it felt like I wouldn't live much longer. I didn't want to, Ponyboy had meant the world to me and now he was gone, I wanted to believe that somehow he was alive but now that we were getting ready lay him to rest forever. My hopes went up like smoke.

Still sobbing I felt a gently hand on my shoulder and I knew that it could only be one person and when I looked up I was right it was Sodapop. Soda was crying himself as he kneeled down beside me and wrapped his arms around me.

"I don't want to go in there" I confessed to my brother "it hurts way to much for me to able to see him in that coffin. I can't do it."

"I know it hurts" Soda said gently "but Pony would want you to say goodbye to him" I looked up into the pouring rain and just let it was me over. "I wish it didn't have to come to this" I said "Ponyboy didn't deserve this he wasn't even a teenager yet."

"I wish it didn't either but things they happen for a reason and it may take a little while for us to understand why Ponyboy was taken, we still have each other" Soda said softly while resting his head upon my shoulder. I could feel the love Soda felt for the both of us radiate off of him and I could only wish that I had the strength to hug him back. As it was I didn't think I would ever be able to get up off the ground.

I sat there for another five minutes and then stood and gently brought Soda with me to my feet.

"Let's go" I said my heart heavy with grief "its time we let Pony know how much he meant to us."

**I know I haven't updated in forever I am sorry but here lately I have felt rather uninspired especially with the recent passing of Patrick Swayze. Which made this scene even harder to write. I tried to put some of my emotions from his death into it but I don't know if that's going to work out. Anyways please read and review the more reviews the harder I will work at getting updated anyways thanks a bunch Lizzieten plus I am planning on a special project for Patrick and I am going to try to post it to you tube when I am finished with it. So I will let you know when I am done. **


	27. funeral pt 2

Chapter 27: the funeral pt 2

Johnny's pov-

Today we were laying my best friend to rest, it seemed surreal like I was living in a dream and at any moment I would wake up. Except this time I knew it wasn't a dream. I didn't want to really believe this was happening, that Ponyboy was really gone but it would seem that now I had no choice but to believe. I wondered who I would be able to tell my secrets to, Ponyboy was really the only one I ever talked to if you could call it talking, neither of us ever talked that much to begin wit; then again we never really needed words. The other guys, mostly Two-Bit, made fun of us calling us twins cause we could always tell what the other was going to say before he said it.

I wanted to cry even when my parents were beating me did I ever feel a pain so bad then what I was feeling now. My heart felt like it was barely beating and my lungs felt like they were filled with water. I couldn't imagine my young best friend lying in the cold hard ground.

Sighing I stared at the church doors afraid of what I would see when I entered the building. I knew I would have to face Ponyboy's lifeless body eventually but right now I didn't know if I could handle it. So I sat down on the cold church steps to wait for some of the gang to come.

Dally's pov

Today was the kid's funeral and despite the fact that I had plans to get drunk. I was gonna attend the funeral. I wouldn't let anyone know I had actually cared about the kid but I did, I was proud of him for being so smart though I knew he could use more street smarts which I had looked forward to teaching him.

Walking down the stairs at Buck's I noticed people were already getting drunk despite the fact that it was early in the morning. I was surprised to see that Two-Bit was not amongst the drinkers. Although I bet he would be drunk by the end of this day. If not at the end of Ponyboy's funeral.

Walking out the door I began my walk to the church; while I walked I noticed a blue mustang following me. I stiffened but kept walking knowing I could handle anything they dished out. Considering what I was about to face; I was ready for a fight. What I didn't expect them to do was for them to pass me and shout:

"Baby Curtis deserved to die" even cold hearted Dallas Winston was shocked. I shook my head as much as I wanted to bust their heads in, I needed to say goodbye to the kid. Five minutes later I reached the church to find Johnny sitting on the stairs.

"What's up?" I asked sitting down beside him.

"I can't go in there" Johnny said sadly "I can't go in there and face what that monster did to him" I saw the tears Johnny was fighting to keep away.

"Pony would want you to come say goodbye" I said standing to my feet and pulling him with me.

Two-Bit's pov

I groaned softly as I sat up on my bed; I had gone out and had gotten drunk last night. That was nothing unusual for me; I get drunk almost every night but last night I had doubled my alcohol intake, and boy was I going to pay heavy for it today. For a moment I wondered why I had done something so stupid , especially since I didn't need the kind of hangover I knew I was going to have.

As I swung my legs over the side of my bed it hit me that we would be burying Ponyboy today. Now it made sense why I went and drunk so much in the first place. I had adored the kid and now he was gone for good. As I stood up and made my way to my closet to find my clothes. I heard something or someone speak to me:

"I'm not dead Two-Bit, you just have to look and you'll find me please help me I'm hurting Two-Bit" I would know that voice anywhere it was Ponyboy. There was no possible way he could be talking to me; the kid was dead and dead people don't talk. Maybe I had a little too much to drink last night I muttered spotting my clothes and grabbing them. Maybe I think I'm hearing him cause I really don't want him to be dead. I shrugged and slide into my clothes and left the house the voice of my fallen adopted little brother forgotten.

Steve's pov

I had been pulling an early shift at the DX the day of the funeral. I knew Soda needed me right now but I also needed money. Cause my dad had kicked me out yet again. I had plans on going to the funeral and I hoped that I would get off in time to go. Soda needed me heck, even Darry needed me. I just wished that Ponyboy could be there so that they wouldn't have to go through this. I regretted every mean thing I had said or done to the kid, not that that was going to help matters right now, but I sincerely wished that I could bring Ponyboy back for them, maybe things wouldn't be so different then.

As I was sitting on the stool behind the counter watching the clock and hoping for a customer, I noticed a truck passing by and it looked like it was dragging something behind it. Getting up I walked outsider to see what was going on. When I noticed it was dragging a little boy who happened to look just like Ponyboy Curtis. My heart jumping into my throat I took off running after it. I had a bad feeling that things were about to get worse for the Curtis brothers if this was who I thought it was.

Feeling sick to my stomach I continued to chase after the truck and it had seemed that I was catching up when the driver I guess finally noticed me and started speeding up. I could only watch helplessly as I ran, the body just bumping along on the road leaving blood behind wherever his body hit. Even though I was losing site of them I kept running. I knew I had to keep going the life of that kid depended on it. Darry and Soda would kill me if their little brother was alive and I did nothing to help him.

Twenty minutes later I found the truck abandoned by the driver with the body still chained behind it. Looking at the bloody mess of a kid I turned away and vomited onto the ground. Even Johnny didn't look this bad when he had been beaten by the socs. You could see the skin was nearly scrapped off in several places especially on his back and the back of his legs. But as I kneeled beside him I could see that he was still breathing not a real whole lot but he was still alive. I knew if I didn't get him out of there fast he would die. So I quickly went to work on the chains wrapped around his swelling throat, I knew that would cause problems later for him. Once the chains had been removed I picked him up in my arms as gently as possible. Now I could feel the shredded skin and it made me want to get sick again but I didn't have much time this kid was going to die if I didn't get him help. I hated the sticky sensation of the blood on my arm as I ran and ran it seemed until I couldn't run no more by the time I got to the hospital I noticed the kid wasn't breathing anymore and that it looked exactly like Ponyboy Curtis except this version was all bloody and you could see that the kid had been severely beaten and it made me angry to think that anyone would want to hurt him.

Upon rushing into the ER I ran for the closest doctor that I could find.

"He needs your help, he was dragged down the road behind a truck, he's not breathing anymore" I cried the doctor took one look at him and ordered a nearby nurse to get a gurney.

"Do you know who this boy is?" the doctor asked

"Ponyboy Curtis, I think" I muttered.

"You think?" the doctor asked

"He's been missing for a year" I said b" a body was found that we assumed was hi his; I don't think it was" the nurse had returned with a gurney and as the boy was wheeled away I realized I had completely forgotten about the funeral. Soda was going to kill me.

Sorry i haven't updated in a while. my video tribute is now on youtube my user name is goldforever10 and the video is called in memory of Patrick Swayze if you feel like it please watch it and leave a comment. thanks for reading my story and please review thanks lizzieten


	28. beat the crap out of Steve day

Chapter 28: beat the crap out of Steve day

Soda

I couldn't believe my best friend compeletly blew off my little brothers funeral, I knew that the two of them often did not get along but he had told me he would be there. Not to mention the fact that I still did not want to accept the fact that Ponyboy was gone for good. Steve had known how much I needed for him to be there; instead he was out doing who knows what with who knows who instead of supporting his best friend. And I had ended up making a fool of myself. I had been unable to take it when the preacher had said:

"Here lies a young man who once dreamed of getting out of this neighborhood, who dreamed about attending college. Now here lies a young man who cannot dream anymore." I had fallen to my knees and sobbed like a little girl.

Now that I was at home alone in my bedroom, I wished more than ever that my baby brother was alive. The house, my room, everywhere just felt so empty without him, and knowing he would never be here again just made me hurt all the more. I wished I could have protected him from that man and the cruel things that had been done to him. Tears began to fall as I saw the body that was found in our yard only days ago. It seemed like it had been a century but I guess days go by real slow when you hurt real bad.

As the tears continued to fall I buried my face in my hands, I did not want the world to see me fall apart. I just wanted to grieve in peace. Laying down on the bed I turned and buried my face into Ponyboy's pillow. Somethings you just needed to do alone besides I didn't want Steve anywhere near me.

Darry's

We had just arrived home from the funeral, and as soon as we got there, Soda headed to his room and I headed to mine. I didn't want Soda to see how much I was hurting right now, because I didn't want him to think of me as being weak for not being able to hold my tears.

Laying down on my bed I stared up at the ceiling. My heart felt like it had been torn into two pieces and then smashed into tiny bits. It wasn't fair that my family had to lose so much and I couldn't stop it from happening. Maybe Soda and Ponyboy would have been better off in a boy's home, Ponyboy would still be alive and Soda wouldn't be hurt over something his best friend had done. Just the thought of Steve made me angry. Steve had known the funeral was going to be rough on Soda yet he didn't bother to even show up. What kind of friend was that? I wondered what lame excuse he would use this time.

Sitting up on the bed, I heard a noise come from Soda's bedroom. When it continued I got up and walked into the room to find Soda with his face buried into Ponyboy's pillow sobbing his heart out. I walked over and gently placed my hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay Soda" I said gently "it won't hurt like this always"

Soda looked at me his eyes red from crying he asked me:

"How do you know its going to be okay?"

"Because in the end everything works out the way it should."

"Ponyboy should be alive" Soda muttered.

Johnny

The funeral had ended twenty minutes ago and once again I found myself in the adbandoned lot. I know the funeral was a chance to say a final goodbye to my best friend but I couldn't explain it when I looked at the body. I had the weirdest feeling like maybe it wasn't my best friend lying there. I don't know how it couldn't have been they looked exactly alike.

From the church I had returned to the lot, I didn't want to be in Darry's and Soda's way especially right now with them grieving and no doubt Soda would be angry at Steve for not showing up. Laying down on my back I stared up at the sky I wondered what was so important that to Steve that he didn't come. I hoped his dad hadn't beaten him again. Then again for Steve's sake I hoped it was something serious cause Soda was going to kill him then he wouldn't ever speak to him again.

I closed my eyes and tried to push the image of the body lying in the coffin out of my head. Tears slowly slipped under my closed lids why did my best friend have to be the one who witnessed his parents murders. Why did my best friend have to be dead.

Two-Bit

Once the funeral was ovewr I headed straight to Bucks, I needed to get drunk, in fact I kinda wished I had been drunk for the funeral. Maybe then it would have been a little bit easier on me. Staring into my beer I thought how I had never been good at heartbreak and this was what I was dealing with now. I had adored the kid there was just something special about him. A light when everything was dark kinda thing.

Raising my glass to my lips I took a sip, when I felt the tears start to fall I decided that maybe it would be better if I got drunk by myself. I stood and stumbled out the door and right before I left the building I saw Dally who was so drunk he could barely stand. I shook my head Dally would act like nothing had happened. I left and headed out into the night air as I walked I couldn't get Soda out of my head. He had broken down and bawled at the funeral. I felt bad for him and Darry both but more so for Soda, cause it seemed that Ponyboy and Soda were a whole lot closer than Ponyboy and Darry.

When I reached my house I saw Steve standing on my porch and it looked like he had a lot of blood on his shirt.

"What do you want?" I slurred none too pleased to see him.

"Ponyboy is not dead" Steve said I turned around and glared at him.

"Yes, he is we buried him today" I said "where were you?"

"I know you're angry because I didn't show up, but I'm not lying Ponyboy is not dead whoever you buried today was not Ponyboy." Steve pleaded with me, I only continued to glare.

"Yeah right" I muttered.

"Ponyboy is in critical condition in the hospital" Steve tried again, this time I swung a hard right hook and landed one right on Steve's jaw.

"Ponyboy is not alive" I shouted at him.

thanks for all of the reviews i hope you enjoy this chapter and remember it won't always be so depressing. lizzieten


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Dally-

After the funeral I had returned to Buck's and had gotten drunk. Man, was I flying high , I forgot how much I enjoyed this. Not only did it clear my mind of all my problems but it made me forget all the memories I had of the kid, especially the ones of him lying lifeless in his own yard. I wish I could go back in time and bring Ponyboy home to his brothers but since I couldn't I would get drunk as often as I could to forget the kid as much as I could. I would not let his death hurt me. I was too tough I could not let it happen.

Glancing towards the doorway I noticed a half drunk Two-Bit and he was watching me. I turned away from him but not before seeing the disappointed look in his eyes.

"Who cares what he thinks" I muttered "its not like he doesn't' spend the majority of his life drunk himself."

Getting bored with the party downstairs I stumbled to the bar to get another beer and then headed upstairs to "my" room. Sitting the beer on the nigh stand I laid down on the bed. I just wanted to forget the pain I had seen in Darry and Soda. I couldn't get the image of Soda laying on Ponyboy's grave crying out for him to come back, out of my head. The pain Soda had showed during the funeral only told how much Soda had loved his kid brother.

Reaching to the night stand I grabbed the beer, popping the top, I lifted it to my lips as I took a sip I noticed a light shining and someone was standing in the light.

"Dallas" a familiar voice said "I'm not dead I need your help."

Spitting out my beer, I hurriedly wiped my eyes and the image disappeared for a moment I had thought Ponyboy was talking to me.

"I've had too much to drink" I muttered dropping the rest of my beer into the trash. Suddenly

feeling tired I laid back down and closed my eyes, within ten minutes I was sound asleep.

Steve's POV~

The fact that Two-bit didn't believe me, did not surprise me, in fact I would have been surprised if he did. I mean they did think the kid was dead and now buried, which led me to wonder exactly who it was they had buried. I had seen the body in the yard and I had thought it was the kid but now I was beginning to wonder.

Instead of going back to my house after I had left Two-Bit's house I headed back to the hospital. I had left before I could find out the extent of Ponyboy's injuries. I was kinda worried; the kid wasn't doing all that great in the first place. I was hoping that Soda and Darry wouldn't have to bury him again.

Sighing, I shoved my hands into my pockets . For some reason I was feeling extremely protective towards the newly found Ponyboy and that wasn't like me at all. I had always disliked him so much before this entire mess.

The walk to the hospital didn't take all that long and for once nobody bothered me. Which left me to wonder what the socs were up to. They didn't usually leave any lone greaser embarrassed so they must be up to something big. Since they weren't bothering me. Even as I had entered the hospital and went to the waiting room. I was starting to get a bad feeling about what they were up to.

Sitting down in one of the hard plastic chairs that was facing the window. I stared out, Thinking that Soda probably hated me by now, especially if Two-Bit had gone and blabbed about what I had tried to convince him. There had to be a way I could get them to come to the hospital. If they could see the kid , they would know that I was right.

Twenty minutes later a very tired looking doctor came out of the ER doors.

"Family of a Ponyboy Curtis?" the doctor asked and I stood and he walked over to me.

"My name is Dr. Ferguson" he said holding out his right hand, I reached out and silently and shook it.

"How is he?" I asked wanting to find out exactly what was wrong.

"He's alive" Dr. Ferguson started "unfortunately he's in a coma due to the injuries he has sustained" he paused and when I only stared at him blankly he continued. "he has six broken ribs, severe internal bleeding that we were able to find and fix. He also has a severe head injury either from being beaten or dragged we don't know. His brain is swollen which we believe is what led to the coma, and at the time being he is unable to breath on his own which is why he is on a respirator."

I closed my eyes, he was hurt much worse then I had expected him to be. Then again he had been in pretty bad shape when I had found him. It all made me very angry and made me want to go find the guy that had done this and kill him.

"When can I see him?" I asked.

"In a few minutes, we're still getting him situated in his room in the intensive care unit." Dr. Ferguson replied before turning and walking away. I sighed and sat back down I had the feeling I was in

for a long wait.

Johnny 's POV~

After a few hours lying in the cold, I decided I would go home to at least be warm, I wasn't sure if my parents would be home or not. It was a Friday night. So maybe they wouldn't be at home for a little while and if they were I would go to Two-Bit's house. \I would at least get a few moments rest without having to worry about getting beat.

Climbing to my feet I walked as slow as I could, hugging my jacket to me, to my house. I would leave if I saw so much as I hair of either of their heads. I wasn't going to be hurt tonight, not after what I had gone through what with burying my best friend. I had never been through anything so painful in my life then what I had dealt with today.

As I approached my house I could hear the screaming coming from within the four walls of my so called home. Sighing, I should have known I wouldn't get that lucky, my parents never seemed to go to work yet they never seemed to lose whatever job they did have. Lucky for me I guess for when they were at work I got a few hours of peace.

I turned and I headed towards Two-Bit's house, he would more than likely be home, if he wasn't he'd be at the Curtis house or out getting drunk. Either way I would be able to find him. I just wished I could stay at my own home for once without worrying about being hurt. Its not like I deserved any of the beatings I got. As I walked I noticed the lack of socs prowling the streets. Which for this side of Tulsa was extremely unusual. I could remember the countless times I had been chased by them. I had only been beaten by them once and I wasn't exactly wanting them to do it again. I wondered what they were doing that had all of them away from our side of town. I hoped it wasn't anything to bad.

In five minutes I had reached Two-Bit's house, and I noticed Two-bit was standing at the window staring out. He didn't seem to see me out on the porch cause he jumped when I knocked on the door.

"Hey, Johnny, your parents fighting again?" Two-Bit asked and I nodded .

"Of course, when don't they do anything else?" I asked noticing the fact that Two-Bit was neither smiling nor was he drunk. "something bothering you?" I asked.

"Steve, came by earlier claiming that Ponyboy wasn't dead" Two-Bit replied.

"So, that's his excuse for missing the funeral" I commented "you know Soda and Darry won't go for that fairy tale especially after the day they've had today."

"I know it" Two-Bit said "but what if there was a way that Steve was right and they buried the person they thought was Ponyboy?"

"like I said fairy tale, stuff like that doesn't happen to us, you forget we don't get any breaks" I said.

"You sound a lot like Dally would" Two-Bit said frowning.

I frowned also knowing that although I worshipped the ground Dallas walked on, sounding like him probably wasn't the best idea in the world. Nobody should have to turn out the way he did. No one should have to turn tough just to protect themselves. Sometimes that's just the way life turns out, and I guess Dallas made the best decision that he could when it came to protecting himself.

"I wish this day was over" I muttered "this has been the hardest day I have ever gone through."

"yours and mine both and I actually made it through a day without really getting drunk, I got buzzed earlier but I wasn't full blown drunk." Two-bit said leaving his spot by the window to go get a pillow and some blankets for me.

"thanks for letting me sleep over" I tell him as I go over and lay down on the couch.

"anytime, you know I would rather you be at my house or the Curtis' so you don't get beat on all the time."


	30. uh oh

**Chapter 30**

**Soda's pov **

**Instead of sleeping in my room I had slept on the couch. I just couldn't be anywhere near anything that reminded me of Ponyboy and nearly everything in that room reminded me of him in some way shape or form. Like how he always left his drawing scattered everywhere, and his books were always on the floor or in the bed. **

**Anyways, I had ended up lying awake most of the night on the couch. I had gone to sleep for a little while but then I would dream of Ponyboy telling me he wasn't dead. I had waken myself up crying. I wished with all my heart that my little dear little brother wasn't gone, but he was and nothing could be done about it. **

**Twenty minutes later I heard our door open. Sitting up, I scowled when I saw that it was Steve. **

"**You're not exactly welcome here" I muttered laying back down and turning over onto my stomach. **

"**I know your mad at me" Steve began "and you have every right to be but I beg you to listen to what I have to say." **

"**Why should I?" I snapped.**

"**Because I've never lied to you" Steve replied not a bit disturbed at my show of temper.**

"**You lied to me about the funeral" I pointed out, surprised he wasn't getting angry.**

"**Okay, I'll give you that one. That was the only time" Steve paused and when I said nothing he continued: "Ponyboy is not dead I found him and took him to the hospital" my eyes filled with tears as I glared at him unable to speak. He stared back at me unflinchingly.**

"**I know how much your hurting right now but I firmly believe you buried the wrong boy" **

**Without saying anything I drew back my fist and punched Steve as hard as I could in his jaw. **

"**Get out of my house and never come back" I yelled "you don't think I know my own brother.?"**

"**Apparently not cause your brother is lying comatose in a hospital bed" Steve said glaring at me before turning and stomping out of the house. **

**Once he left I turned and sobbed into the pillow lying on the couch. I couldn't believe Steve would try to convince me my little brother was still alive after we had just buried him. Twenty minutes later I lay silent but miserable. Steve was now my ex best friend. Hearing the door open I sat up prepared to tell Steve where he could go. Instead of Steve it was Two-Bit and Johnny.**

"**Hey, guys" I said weakly relieved that it hadn't been Steve who had returned. I noticed Two-Bit staring at me and I frowned at him and he looked away.**

"**Whatcha need?" you ought to my know my house isn't exactly a barrel full of fun right now" I muttered.**

"**We know" Two-Bit muttered "we just wanted to come see how you were holding up."**

"**I was doing fine until Steve showed up" I muttered. **

"**Let me guess, he tried to convince you that Ponyboy was still alive" Two-bit said, I nodded.**

"**He tried that on me and I told him to get out" Two-Bit said. **

"**I don't get why he would do it" I said "I don't think he done it to hurt me"**

"**I wouldn't have thought Steve would do something like that" Johnny said quietly I shrugged I didn't either. **

"**He's never lied to me before I know he didn't like Pony but why this?" I asked. Two-Bit and Johnny both shrugged. **

"**Where's muscles at?" Two-Bit asked.**

"**He went to town I wouldn't blame him if he went to a bar and got drunk" I replied ,sighing.**

**Two-Bit and Johnny found a seat and sat down, and turned the TV onto Mickey Mouse. Now that Two-Bit mentioned it, I would have figured Darry would have been back by now. I wondered what was taking him so long. **

**Darry's pov**

**I had to get out of the house. Grief just seemed to hang over it and I needed a break. So I had gone to town. I had started out at the movies but had left during a scene that involved the people burying a young boy. From there I had drifted into a bar.**

**I had a few drinks before but not enough to get drunk and never in front of my brothers lest they think I couldn't handle any of my problems. This time I felt the need to forget; then pain I sensed in Soda seemed only to get stronger each day and know I couldn't do anything to help. Made me hurt worse. **

**Raising the drink to my lips I took a long sip before sitting it back down on the counter. I was already on my third beer and well on my way to forgetting. Normally, I would never encourage this kind of response to someone going through something tragic but at this point I would do anything to take away my pain.**

**Five minutes later I had finished that glass and had ordered another. While I was waiting I felt a rough hand on my shoulder.**

"**I heard about your little brother, such a shame for one such as him to go the way he did." the voice of Tim shepard spoke out beside me in the darkness. **

"**Hey, Tim, How's it going?" I asked.**

"**Not bad for around here anyways. How's Soda doing?" Tim asked.**

"**Not so great, I can't stand being in the house with him in so much pain and no being able to do anything about it." I replied as I finished my fourth beer. **

"**And how are you holding up?" he asked.**

"**I'm here getting drunk aren't I?" I said. When he didn't say anything for a few moments I turned my head to see Tim staring at the entrance to the bar. **

"**There's the creep who tried to have his way with my sister" Tim said angrily before storming off to "greet" the guy. I knew the guy would be lucky to be alive when he left this place. **

"**Feel sorry for that moron" I muttered turning back to my beer. I was beginning to feel buzzed and knew I had to call it quits soon. And when I did I hoped Soda was in bed when I got home I didn't want him to see me like this.**

**After I finished the beer I was on, I decided it was time to go home and since it was only a ten minute drive to my house from the bar. I though I would be fine to drive. As I stood up I nearly fell over, I was just plain drunk. Stumbling out the door I managed to walk to my truck and get in. sitting there for a moment I closed my eyes, my stomach had started to bother me and I knew I shouldn't have drunk so much. **

**Finally after a few minutes I felt well enough to drive. Starting the engine and putting the truck into gear I pulled out onto the road. Out of nowhere a pair of headlights was coming at me in my lane. Blinded I jerked the steering wheel to the left and hit the sidewalk. The truck threw something onto the hood that smashed into the windshield and rolled off hitting the pavement. My head went crashing into the steering wheel and I moaned then jerked the steering wheel hard to the right, to avoid hitting the fence. I jerked the wheel hard enough the truck flipped onto its side where it remained for a moment before rolling the rest of the way over.**

**I was now upset down with a splitting headache and blood running down my face. I moaned because it hurt to move I knew I had broken some bones. Turning my head to the side I noticed the bloody unconscious face of Steve Randle. And it looked like the truck was resting on top of him. Just great now look what I had done, I had more then likely killed my brothers best friend. Soda would hate me for this. **

**What do you think should Steve die or live? Vote in the poll on my profile page. Lizzieten I already know what I'm going to do but I just want to know what you think.**


	31. Before the accident

Chapter 31: before the accident

~Steve~

I had been walking home from the hospital, I was tired and stressed from the worst day of my life. Ponyboy was still unconscious and there was no telling when he would wake up if he ever did. Ponyboy had been worse off then I had thought. While he was gone whoever had, had him spent a whole lot of time beating him. The doctors said the has eight broken ribs that were healing, not only that but the kid had scars all over his arms, and face. I would hate to see what the rest of his body looked like. It would probably make me sick especially looking at Ponyboy's torn up face. He actually had a scar that looked like it went right through Ponyboy's eye.

Sighing, I walked a little faster, wishing I could get the image of Ponyboy out of my head. Not only that but I was wondering when I had started to care so much about him. I hadn't cared for him before he disappeared but I guess seeing what it done to Soda and Darry just got to me.

As I was walking I didn't see the headlights that was swearing on the road, I didn't even begin to think the driver was drunk until the truck swerved over onto the sidewalk.

It happened so fast I didn't have time to move and the next thing I knew. The truck had slammed into my legs, breaking them instantly before throwing me onto the hood of the truck. My face slammed into the windshield.

The glass broke upon impact and I felt the glass tear into my face and I wanted to cry as the driver jerked the wheel to the left and I went flying off the hood but not before I noticed that the driver was none other than Darrel Curtis.

Upon hitting the sidewalk I felt a sharp pain in my left side. I knew I had broken some ribs. I lay there barely conscious for a few minutes when I saw the truck flip and fell over on top of me. Feeling the air go rushing out of my chest as the truck laid on me. I, thankfully passed out, glad to be away from the pain even if only for a little while.

When I awoke next, I wished I hadn't. I was in so much pain, I wanted to cry even if I had forgotten to. Opening my eyes, I noticed I was b8n the hospital. None of the doctors or nurses seemed to notice I was awake.

"His legs are shattered, he'll have to have surgery on them, they'll have to place rods into them" another doctor made the comment that Steve had severe bruising on his sides.

"He might have some broken ribs which leads to me to wonder if he has internal bleeding." the steady beeping of the machines around me was beginning to irritate me. A few minutes later I was beginning to feel sleepy.

"The rate at which his blood pressure is dropping he might. We need to get him into surgery."

"Someone needs to inform Mr. Matthews about this boy's condition."

Mr. Matthews? I wondered "What's Two-Bit doing here? He's mad at me.

Just then one of the nurses brushed up against one of my legs and I gasped it hurt so bad.

"He's awake" I heard one of the nurses commented.

"I'm surprised with the rate at which his blood pressure's falling" The doctor said before placing a mask over my face. The last thing I heard before passing out was the doctor telling the nurse he hoped I made it through surgery.

As I drifted off I began to feel like I was floating. The feeling that surrounded me was so peaceful. That I wanted to stay here forever. Then I heard someone calling my name.

"Steve" holy crow it was Soda's parents and they were dead so did that mean I was dead too? I turned to them confused.

"Steve, you can't stay here my boy's need you more than you know." Molly Curtis said gently "especially our little Ponyboy, he's going through so much pain right now."

"I'm dead aren't I?" I asked.

"Not yet but the choice is yours just remember how much our boys need you" Darrel Curtis said. Before turning and waving goodbye as they disappeared someone else appeared. Someone who looked a lot like Ponyboy.

"You look like Ponyboy I said.

"That's because I'm his twin brother, the names Cody" Cody said. I said nothing.

"You're gonna die in surgery" Cody said.

"That doesn't surprise me" I muttered

"But" Cody said "you can still live you just have to decided that you want to."

"I'm supposed to help Ponyboy but I don't know how" I grumbled "the kids comatose; I can't do anything for him." "You can protect him and be with him until his brothers come to their senses." I said nothing only sighed the world had so much pain in it. As if reading my thoughts Cody said:

"There's still good in the world, Steve, and it's worth fighting for; there's a kid down there that doesn't deserve to die and he has lot of good in him"

"Everybody says that about Pony" I remarked.

"It's true" Cody said "He deserves all the help he can get."

"All right, al right, I'll go back you're just as annoying as Ponyboy is!" I exclaimed. Cody smiled and reached out and pushed me and I felt myself falling.

~Two-Bit's POV~

I had been walking home from the Curtis house. Johnny had stayed behind to help Sodapop. The place was just to depressing for me so I left. I just couldn't handle the grief, I know Sodapop misses Ponyboy so do I but I'm a cheerful person by nature and Sodapop and this whole situation was just raining on my parade.

I was walking past Steve's house when I noticed a truck laying on its side and it looked like someone was underneath it. As I got closer I noticed that it was Darry's truck, and the truck was lying on Steve.

I heard a moan from inside the truck and knew that for the most part Darry was okay. I knelt down beside the unconscious Steve and placed two fingers on his neck. Wincing when the blood ran down my fingers. I hated blood. I had barely found a pulse in Steve's neck and knew he would die soon if he didn't get help. But at the same time I couldn't lift the truck off of him.

Sighing I knew I had to go find help. Steve had his issues but he was still a friend, more of a brother, to the rest of the gang. Even Ponyboy even though I knew that Ponyboy couldn't stand Steve and Steve couldn't stand Ponyboy. But anyways, Steve didn't deserve to die because I was mad at him. I jumped to my feet and headed to the nearest house I could find which happened to be Buck's.

It only took me a few minutes to reach Buck's house; I knew this would be where Dally would be and right now I needed his help. I just hoped he wasn't drunk. Upon entering the house I noticed Dally was sitting at the bar and was sober. I hoped he wasn't angry or anything cause he would knock my head off.

"Dally," I called when I was a few feet away from him. He turned around and glanced at me.

"What do you want Matthews?" he said acting as if my mere presence was annoying him.

"I need your help" I said "Steve was in an accident and the truck is on top of him"

"How did that happen?" He asked cooly.

"I guess Darry got a little drunk" I began

"Darry" Dally exclaimed "now there's a surprise Darry don't drink"

"He did tonight and he's had every right to now I need your help Steve is gonna die if we don't go soon" I told him.

Dally didn't say anything just got up and hollered at several boys. When he had gathered about twenty boys. Dally turned to look at me.

"Let's go" his cold hard eyes seemed to grow even colder. Everyone headed out of the house and got into their cars, some just piling into the cars with others. It took only five minutes to reach the scene of the accident. When we had gotten out and over to the site I noticed the door on the drivers side was open and Darry was gone. Wonder where he went off to I wondered to myself. Surely he had been hurt in an accident.

"We'll worry about Darry later Steve is my concern right now" Dally said and several minutes later we had managed to lift the truck up and pull Steve out.

"We've got to get him to the hospital" Dallas ordered "somebody get him in their car."

"Moving him will probably only hurt him worse" I warned Dally.

"We'll deal with that later, if we don't move him now he'll die" that being said several boys lifted Steve into Tim's car. Then they went and jumped into their own and we were off to the hospital.

Ten minutes later we had arrived and after Steve had been unloaded and took back into the ER. I headed straight for the first pay phone I could find. I wanted to know if Darry had made it home and I'm sure Soda would want to know about Steve.

Dropping a couple nickels into the money slot. I dialed Soda's number. I wondered if he would still be up since it was kind of late.

"Hello" a gruff voice answered Darry had made it home.

"I see you made it home" I said he grunted.

"What do you want?" Darry grumbled "I have a headache"

"I was wanting to tell Soda that Steve at the hospital"

"I'll let him know" Darry said.

"He was hit by a drunk driver" I hinted

"Is he alright?" Darry asked impatiently.

"We don't know we just got here" I told him wondering how you could forget being that you had been drunk and had hit someone that was close to you.

"I'll talk to you later" Darry said hanging up.

Sighing, I hung up and went back to the waiting room and sat down beside Dally.

"Darry made it home" I told him "and he doesn't remember hitting Steve" I sighed knowing that Dally probably didn't care. "He's gonna tell Soda but knowing Soda since he's angry at Steve he won't want to come here" I mumbled.

"I'm not too sure about that" Dally said looking towards the entranceway to the hospital. Soda was standing there and it looked like he had been crying.

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Sorry about the delay in updating just needed a short break. hope you enjoy this chapter thank for reading and reviewing Lizzie10 AKA Liz


	32. Chapter 32

Wrong place wrong time chapter 32

~Sodapop's pov~

I can't believe this is happening , getting into it with Steve, and now Steve was in the emergency room in who knows what condition and with who know s how long we have to wait to find anything out about him. The not knowing is always the worst part of any wait, just ask anyone who had spent a serious amount of time in the ER's waiting room. It's the wait that always gives you time to think about what could have been and what you should or shouldn't have or shouldn't have done. I should never have told Steve that he wasn't my best friend anymore; after all he didn't really have anybody else besides the gang that actually cared about him. If Steve died and at this point I understood that it was a very distinct possibility that could happen, I didn't know what I would do, after all I had lost my little brother, how was I supposed to live without my best friend too.

"Soda," Two-bit said quietly "Steve's going to be okay, you know Steve better than anyone."

"You don't understand" I muttered "you don't know the things I said to him."

"I know that I said some pretty harsh words to him myself" Two-bit remarked "none of this really matters right now; Steve needs his best friend."

"I'm not a very good best friend" I muttered before sitting down beside Dally and laying my head in my hands, the extremely clean smell of the hospital combing with pure nerves were making me sick.

"Please, don't die Steve," I muttered so low that the other guys didn't hear me. A few minutes later the boys conversation ended and the silence drifted over them. I honestly didn't like when it they were quiet because it was giving me too much time to think about everything that I had done wrong; which in the situation at hand was plenty, in fact in seemed like everything I had done was wrong, and that fact only made me more depressed which was very unusual for me.

"You're the best, best friend that, Steve has" Two-bit said out of nowhere "and I bet when wakes up you're going to be the only one he wants to see."

"If he wakes up" I said still feeling very depressed and broken beyond repair. I had never even considered that I might one day have to live without my little brother, or for that matter Steve. I didn't want to think about my life without either of them, it was just hard for me to even comprehend. But the more I thought about the more my heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces and I wondered if I would ever be able to be put back together again.

"Why is this happening to me?" I wondered out loud, I had heard the phrase life isn't fair I don't know how many times but here I sat once again pondering what I had done wrong to deserve what was happening to me. "haven't I been through enough already, whoever is in control are they trying to break me because they are not far from achieving that goal"

"I don't think this being done break you as much as it to test your strength" Dallas commented in gruff voice that implied he really didn't care that much. I just turned to look at him like he had grown three heads, in all the years that I had known him I had never thought I would hear something like that come out of his mouth.

"Where did that come from Mr. I'm too tough to care?" I asked in a low voice honestly wanting to know, because Dallas wasn't exactly the caring and sharing type of person.

"It's something someone once told me" Dallas replied, and I could tell he regretted having said anything. "it's not a big deal"

"Does Dallas Winston have a heart after all" Two-bit quipped, staring at Dallas, who silently shot him a death glare.

"That's the first thing you have ever said that could actually be considered caring" Two-Bit continued, apparently not caring for his own well being. I could tell Dallas was starting to get angry from the looks he was giving our friend. If this situation wasn't so serious I would almost be laughing, but as it was I wasn't in the mood for comic relief. Even though I knew Two-Bit was trying to make things better, making Dallas Winston angry was not the way to do it.

"Why do we still not know anything" I grumbled my patience was coming to an end, and it would be much longer until I took matters into my own hands and that wouldn't be pretty. Everyone around me knew that I hated long waits and this had proved to probably be the longest wait ever for me, I was ready for it to be over.

"Steve was hurt pretty badly," Two-Bit said "it's going to take a while to fix everything that's wrong with him."

"Thank you captain obvious" Dallas muttered, smirking at the insulted look on his friends face.

"I ought to brain you" Two-Bit said good naturedly.

"Go on and try it" Dallas warned "and see if you don't get your ass handed right back to you." I choked back a laugh at the frozen deer caught in the headlights look on Two-Bit's face. We both knew that Dallas would do it; he wasn't afraid of anything or anybody. Dallas had even at one point knocked Darry a good one even though Darry was bigger than him. Nobody messed with Dallas when he was in a bad mood.

I sighed wishing I knew what had made Steve think that my precious little brother was still alive. I wished there was a way possible for that to be the truth, but I had seen the body myself; I knew Ponyboy was never coming home to us again. I felt tears prick my eyes as I thought of Ponyboy; I couldn't stand the thought of him lying in the cold hard ground. Life was not supposed to end this way, Pony should have had years ahead of him and a chance to say goodbye to all his friends and family before he died. Thanks to some coldhearted person Pony had that chance stolen from him.

I shook my head to clear my head because these thoughts were not helping me any; I needed to remain focused on the things that lay ahead of me. I didn't know if my best friend was going to make it or not. Although I prayed mighty hard for Steve to live because I had a lot of wrongs to make up for, I needed to let him know that I still cared about him even though hardly anybody else did, including that scumbag father of his.

Twenty minutes and plenty of arguing later, I noticed a doctor in green scrubs heading towards the empty waiting room, well, empty except for us, I thought.

"Family of Steven Randle?" He asked.

"Right here" I said standing up and greeting the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Jared Winchester, I'm the doctor who was in charge of Mr. Randle's care." He stated taking in the somber look of the group of boys that surrounded him.

"Is he going to be alright?" I asked faintly; afraid of the answer. I was terrified that Dr. Winchester would say that Steve died upon arrival.

"Mr. Randle is gravely injured at this point" Dr. Winchester said "and if he does live it won't be without a large amount of physical therapy. Both of his legs were basically shattered, which required surgery to repair the damage. Along with that he has four broken ribs which resulted in a punctured lung." I drew in a harsh breath at what I had been told thus far, from the sounds of it Steve was even lucky to still be alive; and at this moment who knew how long that was going to last.

"The punctured lung led to Mr. Randle being placed on a ventilator to help his lungs heal; in due time the injury done to the lung will heal." Dr. Winchester continued almost as if he was a robot repeating information instead of a human being. I could feel a headache beginning to form from everything the doctor was still dumping on us; I had never been good at information overload that was a fact. "He also has bleeding in the brain. From all of our CT scans the bleeding isn't bad yet, but it has the potential to be which is why when we have him more stable we are going to undergo surgery once more, and hopefully we will be able to take care of that, without any major issues. And last and defiantly the least of his injuries, we had to remove several shards of glass which some of the deeper cuts required stitches, in which they were given where they were needed." Dr. Winchester finished, "any questions?"

"When will you be able to do the surgery to repair the bleed?" Two-Bit asked dumbly.

"Like I said before as soon as we get Mr. Randle stabilized once more, the reason we can't now is because of an unsafe drop in blood pressure from the last surgery."

"What about brain damage?" I asked meekly.

"Whenever there is a bleed in the brain there is always concern for brain damage but at this point we won't know until Mr. Randle wakes up" the doctor replied honestly. "He could be fine or he could never be the same again. We just don't know" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Steve never be the same again, it just seemed like it wasn't even possible.

"This is my fault," I muttered " I done this to my own best friend." I ignored the look I could tell the doctor was sending me, I didn't feel like explaining that I was not the one driving drunk but my words themselves caused enough damage to my best friend.

"You weren't driving were you?" I heard him ask and I was grateful to my friend when Two-Bit answered for me.

"Of course not, Sodapop's not stupid. He may look it but he's not"

"Shut up, Two-bit" Dallas said before Two-Bit could continue with his little tirade. "Steve, is Soda's best friend and they had a bit of an altercation before all of this happened that's why Soda's feeling like he is to blame."

"I understand" Dr. Winchester said "I can only let one person at a time in to see him right now would anybody like to?" he asked.

"Yes," Soda piped in, looking like he was willing to follow the doctor to the ends of the earth as long as he got to see his best friend.

"You can only stay for ten minutes at a time" Dr. Winchester explained "but I figure a little support from his 'family' will encourage him to fight a bit."

"Just take me to him" was Soda's terse reply. Jared shook his head; some patients' family's had no patience whatsoever. He led the young man down the hall to where the ICU was located, and took him to Mr. Randle's room.

**Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I appreciate any and all reviews and thanks for staying tuned, even though its taking me forever to get this story out. Please pardon any grammatical errors and typo's. but whatever you do please don't forget to tell me what you think( even though I think this particular chapter drags a little, and for that I apologize) but like always reviews are much appreciated and they might even encourage me to get my chapters written and posted sooner.**


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